Pigeon, Pied

Thursday, 1st November 2001, West Yorkshire

This Month Rocks History Workshop Links Home Page

A PIED WAGTAIL perches on the apex of the roof across the road. The roof tiles are a favourite hunting ground for them, as is the car park in Wakefield where there's one trotting and flitting near the fast food take-away.

They're what you might call 'streetwise', like the town pigeons. Like most town pigeons anyway. We see one that flies down into the middle of the road and keeps pecking at the ground as a huge lorry lumbers towards it. The pigeon doesn't make a move until it finds itself beneath the lorry. If it had stayed exactly where it stood the lorry would have passed over it, but in it's belated attempt to escape the unfortunate bird is caught under one of the back wheels and killed instantly.

Bright red, glossy, Bittersweet berries have ripened on a straggly plant growing by a broken wall at the roadside.

Richard Bell,
wildlife illustrator
E-mail; 'richard@willowisland.co.uk'

Next page Previous page This day last year This month Nature Diary Home Page