You ate my father! Prepare to die.

I’ve got a wee birdie melodrama playing out on the roof across the street: two crows are picking over the remains of a gull that got demolished by an eagle, while a younger gull watches and squawks at them. There’s a Greek chorus of, ah—of tiny tweety things; can’t quite identify them, from this distance—commenting on the proceedings from the trees.

I’ve ordered myself a new camera, one of those Nikon P1000 jobbies. It’s good for birding, possibly designed for the purpose. If only I’d got it a week ago, I’d have a record of that eagle attack. I I tried to catch it on my phone, but all I got were blobs. My DSLR was out of batteries, so I missed the whole thing. I mean, I saw it, but I couldn’t put it on the Internet, so it’s like I dreamed it all. Pics or it didn’t happen—isn’t that the rule?

It was great, though. The gull had just fled a fight with its mate. It was sitting on the water tank, all puffed up and angry, nipping at its breast, when the eagle struck. There was no struggle. I think the eagle’s weight snapped its neck. Ten minutes later, the roof was covered in feathers, and old baldy flew away.

This is a good neighbourhood for birds. We’ve a lot of restaurants on the block—a lot of garbage. Lots to eat. I’ve spotted a tree downstairs with a crow living in it: can’t wait to spy on that. Just this morning, I saw that crow drag a whole plastic bag in there…some sort of art project? And then, the Dollarama and the billiard parlour have great, flat roofs, perfect for gullie nests. We’ve got eagles all over, flickers, and those toaty bastards, loud buggers, whatever they are. Maybe I’ll put out my hummingbird feeder, see if I get any takers.

Here’s a question: how long does it take for a ten-foot tree to grow, ah…to the height of a fifth-floor balcony that’s actually a third-floor balcony, because 1 and 2 are one big floor, and there’s no fourth floor, because that’s the death floor (a superstitious thing, like with 13—as if us on 5 and 14 don’t know where we’re living)! Anyway, I’ve got a tree under my balcony, but it’s tiny. I want to know when that’ll poke over the railing.

Mm…it’s a good day, today. I’ve finished work early, so I’m going to drink cocoa and bird some birds. One time, I saw a black swift in Vancouver. I probably won’t see one, today—but maybe a falcon, or some chickadees….