vee-tail-1
22nd Dec 2010, 00:01
It’s been like Narnia down here in rural Pembrokeshire, cold but beautiful, with every tree and hedge covered in twinkling snow and ice. Bit special today as it is the winter solstice and there was a spectacular partial eclipse early this morning.
After four days of being cut-off by ice, the council snow plough reached our village today and I drove the 4x4 down our half mile farm track for a shopping trip.
But half way along the track there in the snow lay a big bird; it was a buzzard and recently dead. I stopped the car and got out to pick up the bird, which seemed as if it was asleep. Its feathers and colouring were magnificent, the bright yellow legs and sharp talons, the hooked nose and big eyes. I tried to blow air into its nostrils, and attempted to warm its frozen body, but to no avail, and it seemed to me that the poor creature had expired from the intense cold last night. I put the buzzard carefully to the side of the track, intending to give it a decent burial on return from my shopping expedition.
But the timing and the place of this event got me thinking. Many folk around here believe that the animal world does not exist independently of humans, and sometimes interacts in ways that are significant.
Long ago while travelling around S America I befriended some native Indians, who told me that everyone has a ‘medicine animal’ that is a sort of spiritual protector. It seemed like a bit of fun at the time, but apparently my ‘medicine animal’ is a buzzard.
On return I picked up the buzzard and took her to the farm, and suddenly my aviation training kicked in. Something wrong here… this bird did not just die of the cold and as a result fell out of the tree. In fact the sort of big tree that buzzards prefer was some distance away from where she was found.
Not only that but this bird had died with full up elevator and a bit of right aileron. The tail feathers were fully extended and at full up inclination. Buzzards hunt by stooping; coming down in a high speed dive with wings partially folded a bit like a space shuttle approach& landing. Further investigation showed that the still tightly closed talons held tufts of feathers, and then I realised that her neck was broken. This was not a death by hypothermia, it was an aircraft accident caused by pilot error; most importantly it was a message from my medicine animal to me.
No it’s not the lunchtime sherry talking! In spite of myself I believe in this stuff, and in this case the warning to me is most appropriate. Over a year since I last flew and my flying chum also a bit rusty since recovering from a horrible accident. Yet we were proposing to take to the air without refresher instruction and in an aeroplane that has spent the last 18 months sitting unused in a cold hangar.
The message to me was loud and clear, even the most accomplished flyers can foul up and aviation is very intolerant of mistakes. That buzzard is going to get the most respectful send off and grateful thanks from me and my family. :)
After four days of being cut-off by ice, the council snow plough reached our village today and I drove the 4x4 down our half mile farm track for a shopping trip.
But half way along the track there in the snow lay a big bird; it was a buzzard and recently dead. I stopped the car and got out to pick up the bird, which seemed as if it was asleep. Its feathers and colouring were magnificent, the bright yellow legs and sharp talons, the hooked nose and big eyes. I tried to blow air into its nostrils, and attempted to warm its frozen body, but to no avail, and it seemed to me that the poor creature had expired from the intense cold last night. I put the buzzard carefully to the side of the track, intending to give it a decent burial on return from my shopping expedition.
But the timing and the place of this event got me thinking. Many folk around here believe that the animal world does not exist independently of humans, and sometimes interacts in ways that are significant.
Long ago while travelling around S America I befriended some native Indians, who told me that everyone has a ‘medicine animal’ that is a sort of spiritual protector. It seemed like a bit of fun at the time, but apparently my ‘medicine animal’ is a buzzard.
On return I picked up the buzzard and took her to the farm, and suddenly my aviation training kicked in. Something wrong here… this bird did not just die of the cold and as a result fell out of the tree. In fact the sort of big tree that buzzards prefer was some distance away from where she was found.
Not only that but this bird had died with full up elevator and a bit of right aileron. The tail feathers were fully extended and at full up inclination. Buzzards hunt by stooping; coming down in a high speed dive with wings partially folded a bit like a space shuttle approach& landing. Further investigation showed that the still tightly closed talons held tufts of feathers, and then I realised that her neck was broken. This was not a death by hypothermia, it was an aircraft accident caused by pilot error; most importantly it was a message from my medicine animal to me.
No it’s not the lunchtime sherry talking! In spite of myself I believe in this stuff, and in this case the warning to me is most appropriate. Over a year since I last flew and my flying chum also a bit rusty since recovering from a horrible accident. Yet we were proposing to take to the air without refresher instruction and in an aeroplane that has spent the last 18 months sitting unused in a cold hangar.
The message to me was loud and clear, even the most accomplished flyers can foul up and aviation is very intolerant of mistakes. That buzzard is going to get the most respectful send off and grateful thanks from me and my family. :)