Winging It

[Editor's Note: I loved the following story which was posted on Friday by my fellow birder Carolyn Kay Carson on the eBirds email list. In a city like New York, every where you look there's potential for high drama and comedy! Have a beautiful--and proud--Sunday!]

At the opening gala for Shakespeare in the Park's Romeo and Juliet this past Tuesday evening, guests were seated at tables on the lawn in front of the theater for a pre-show dinner. A fledgling grackle decided that the abundance of gourmet food was too good to pass up. S/he started flying from table to table startling the well-dressed guests. The young bird would climb up the side of a tree trying to get a good look at the plates of food. Attempts to target a meal didn't work out so well--s/he wasn't on the guest list! Mom and Pop were hopping from tree to tree keeping a proud eye on the youngster. When I saw the flustered bus boys trying to nab the bird in a napkin (!), it was time to rescue it from being rescued. They were relieved to know that the bird was ok, but, they insisted on trying to help it back up into the tree hoping it would leave the guests to enjoy their dessert! A happy ending for the grackle and even for Romeo and Juliet because it started pouring rain just after Juliet's tonic-to-sleep scene!

Others birds on set: ROBINS & CHIMNEY SWIFTS' pre-show chorus, a BLACK CROWNED NIGHT HERON fishing in Turtle Pond behind the set during the performance, and a large raptor (too dark to i.d.) flew very low from the west down toward the pond after sunset then back toward the west about 20 minutes later. Black skimmers were a no-show.

Carolyn Kay Carson