Joy to the watcher

I love common things and common moments. There’s something special about the everyday, especially at this time of year when it’s easy to eat too much, drink too much, run around like crazy and feel altogether exhausted. The Common Bronzewing is one of those common things that I adore. It’s a native, medium-sized pigeon, which probably doesn’t seem that unique. But if you take a moment to wait after the inevitable flurry of flying feathers, its specialness literally shines through.

Another day, another wander around Darkes Forest. It’s one of those places where we know we’ll see something interesting but just never know what that’s going to be. That alone has been good for my brain, which needs reminding, especially once December rolls around, to switch off every now and then and just be in the moment.

I noticed the stocky bird up ahead, on the dirt track, pecking at the seeds that had fallen from the banksias. Even in shadow, I recognised it as a Common Bronzewing and it did exactly as expected, and dashed straight up into the nearest tree with a loud clapping of its wings. They’re skittish birds at the best of times and I didn’t even bother to pull my camera out. Instead, I bent down to look amongst the leaf litter and after a minute or two zoning out, I was startled by a short ruckus in the tree directly in front.

Turns out the Bronzewing had decided we were worth a closer inspection and flew into the gum, peering down at the humans below. The name ‘Common Bronzewing’ is not used lightly, with the bird being found in pretty much every habitat, right around the country. We stood there a while watching it watching us, waiting. And then finally our quiet determination was rewarded and the bird moved into the sun and its wings exploded with metallic highlights, the feathers shimmering with golds, greens and purples.

I hope you get a moment or two this Christmas period, to enjoy the beauty in the most common of things.