This column is for the birds

   I was never much one for shooting birds, but one day last spring I was sorely tempted. A friend had given me a brand new yard ornament for my collection - a two-foot long dragonfly made of copper tubing coiled around grapefruit sized glass balls. It temporarily sat it on my deck rail while I pondered where to showcase it in the yard. Then out of the clear blue in broad daylight, an owl swooped down, clutched my treasure in his claws then dropped it on the deck, smashing the glass to smithereens. He left me speechless.

   A few weeks later I saw what looked like a stuffed owl display at Discover Mills. As I was about to ask the lady at the table if she'd like another bird for her collection, one of her owls winked at me. These were real live raptors, part of Monteen McCord's "HawkTalk, Speaking for the Wild" presentation. 

   McCord has been caring for raptors for 20 years. Certified by the National Wildlife Federation, she uses live birds to educate and entertain. (info: 770-720-1847 or www.hawktalk.org  ) She'll be speaking to Boy Scout Troop 2000 in Duluth next Tuesday and her non-profit organization HawkTalk charters Venture Crew 599 in Lawrenceville, the only raptor rescue crew in the area. (This co-ed group, age 14-21, is recruiting to replace members who've left for college. Info: www.crew599.com  ) 

   How lucky to happen upon someone who actually speaks for the wild! I picked her brain about what this stupid owl must have been thinking.

   "He could have seen his reflection," she said.

   "But I have several gazing balls in my yard and he's never bothered them."

   "He might have considered it lunch."

   "But I have life-size figurines of rabbits, squirrels, frogs and chickens all over the place. Certainly any of them would appear to have more meat on their bones than a see-through dragonfly."

   "Heck, their eyes are larger than their brains, so there's no telling what was going through his pea brain at the time! Could have just been furious that this thing was in his territory." 

   Now if this is true, isn't it interesting that I should live in a neighborhood with no covenants, ordinances or homeowners' associations to dictate how I landscape my yard, yet some owl decides what kinds of decorations I can put in "his" territory? 

   Well, I guess when McCord says she speaks for the wild, she doesn't mean she can read their minds like I'd hoped. But she does speak up for them loud and clear in venues where they have no voice and educates others to do the same.

   Actually, the thought of a real live owl who feels free to voice his opinion in my own backyard is really more exciting than having a swirl of copper tubing nailed to a tree. And it also gives me something more interesting to voice my opinion about.

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