In Flight

A swirl of pigeons

Dancing between skyscrapers

-urban wingbeats

Notes: On my walk to work from my commuter train station, I often see a flock* of pigeons. I find them amazing, adaptable, and striking birds. They are also such impressive fliers – you often hear them before seeing them**. Strong, purposeful birds when in the air. There is always quite a large flock in one specific downtown park and the other day I observed them take off and fly together. They moved as if one (similar to the fantastic murmations of starlings) and circled up from the park, up between and among the skyscrapers in the downtown core. Above the cars, city busses, walkers and cyclists. Nature is around us, all the time. City pigeons remind us of this.

* I understand that collective nouns for pigeons also include “kit” or “loft”, but I’ll stick with the more well-known “flock”. That being said, I hereby propose “swirl of pigeons” to represents a flock of these birds, in flight.

** I must share with you that a few weeks ago a pigeon flew right into the side of my head as I was walking through a park. There was a flock coming in fast, heading towards some foodstuffs that had been placed near a park bench. One of them didn’t judge the obstacles quite right and hit the side of my head. It was baffling, hilarious, unexpected, and unusual. A unique event; I heard the bird before I saw (and felt) it.

© Christopher M Buddle 2023