I WAS sitting quietly in The Hide just the other day contemplating the state of the universe, when some aerial activity immediately in front of and above me caught my attention. I abandoned the greater universe for a moment as a large bird flapped, twisted and turned its way directly towards me with a much smaller bird in hot pursuit. They came racing over the valley below us, with the sea as a backdrop, until I recognised a yellow-billed kite being pursued by a fork-tailed drongo. It looked for all the world like a Spitfire in a dogfight with a Dornier.
Now, in my humble opinion the YBK (yellow-billed kite) is one of, if not THE, most able flyer in our skies, but the FTD (fork-tailed drongo) is no slouch either. Both seem to use their distinctive tails, both, interestingly, concave and forked, to execute the most complicated aerial manoeuvres at high speed. Anyway, the Spitfire and the Dornier came roaring towards me and just as they were about to disappear from view over our house the FTD darted in for that final burst and for all the world looked as though it bit the YBK on the derriere.
The YBK disappeared from view, clearly embarrassed, and the FTD retired to a nearby strelitzia looking rather chuffed with itself. I returned to my contemplation of the state of the universe, but never let it be said that life in The Hide is boring.
And now, Calling all Estate Agents — here’s a snippet of news from the London Daily Telegraph (something else I do in The Hide). It seems that houses in neighbourhoods which have a healthy population of wild birds sell for more money than those in birdless environments. Now, before you scoff at this whole idea as being a figment of the imagination of a birdy person like myself, it seems that a birdy property can sell for up to R300,000 more (I’ll say that again slowly, R-3-0-0-0-0-0) than a non-birdy property. The study was actually done in the United States of America, but it has been fully endorsed by the British property market, which has emphasised that birds mean gardens, more birds mean more and bigger, and by implication, better gardens, which means, again by implication, a more desirable neighbourhood.
Further to the study it is reported that birdsong has a number of benefits, including helping people to relax – for example, it has been found that it can calm young people as they are about to be given injections in hospital. The British National Trust has said that people should listen to birdsong for a few minutes each day to help improve their mood. I wonder if that includes hadedas.
Enough of all this, I feel better already and The Hide is going on the market tomorrow. It just remains for me to wish you all a very happy new year, however you celebrate it – for us it’s haggis and the umpteenth re-run of the Edinburgh Tattoo DVD. Most importantly, may 2014 be a safe and peaceful year for us all. Cheers!
