Steermanship

There is a building across the gazebo park from my window that does not fit 
our street, but I am not concerned with that. The reason it doesn't fit is that every 
other building around the square is either of Georgian or Victorian design, not 
counting the church. This building is of the seventies and is faded tan with odd 
windows. Below each window is a sunken ledge made of concrete that sticks 
out like a seat for anyone who might fall from a balloon basket.


Up on the tenth floor yesterday someone must have dumped a cake or some 
type of dish that was yellow. Early on in the morning as I wrote I saw a single 
blackbird or crow or whatever circle around for some time and then steer into 
the ledge, but not land. It just hovered and steered off and then back. It finally 
landed, looked at whatever it was I couldn't see, looked around to see if anyone 
was watching, bent its head, and snuck a piece. It flew away with a very yellow 
ball of something in its beak. From ten stories up I could still see the color of the
food. Perhaps that was why someone threw it out the window.


About an hour later, word must have spread. I heard them coming first, and then 
I saw them. At least fifty to sixty of the blackbirds ascended over the street, all 
circling around each other to see what the special treat was. To me this is 
evidence that birds and animals can speak well to each other, just not to us 
(parrots aside), and also that they have the best hovering and steermanship
capabilities. That was a lot of damn birds.


Four at a time they emerged from the circling pack and landed on the ledge to 
take bites out of the yellow surprise. As they left, four more would land, their 
wings flapping nearly incessantly, and only sometimes did that caw or jab at 
each other. They would go to a tree limb or rooftop or another ledge on 
another floor to gobble their bite and then they would fly back up to the ledge 
with the yellow surprise, and that person must have thrown out an entire meal 
or dessert because the birds all got fat as I watched.


As I just wrote that last sentence I heard a triple caw out my window, as if one 
of those birds was agreeing with me and shouting out a 'hell yeah.'


Birds apparently will eat anything.


Another bird just cawed another 'hell yeah.' Seriously. Can birds read our 
minds? ........... no caw on that one. That was spooky.