Starling swarms

After missing out on the total Moon Eclipse on 21 December 2010, because of the cloudy skies, I was determined not to miss out on the Sun Eclipse on 4 January 2011. The article on the subject in the morning newspaper was promising, so I took the text to heart and set off to work in the car with my camera ready. The eclipse would take place at 3˚ at the horizon and could only be seen out in the open.
As the route is through plenty of Dutch polder land, with a 180 ˚ view, I was convinced I would be able see it. But no such luck! The sun was rising on the horizon in wintery icy pink, the sky turned grey and it became obvious once again that one of the wonders of our universe was not going to be experienced (by me).


Illustration by Rein Stuurman in Ko Zweeres' 'Vogels om ons heen' - MCMLXVI

After a very busy day of catching up on two weeks of seasons holidays all of a sudden there was the sound of a starling, and a hundred shrieking noises following. Starling swarms passing close by in a wonderful choreography, going, coming back, starting off again from the roof right above my head.





The movements of the starling swarms are a spectacular happening between the tall buildings, over and over again. It never seizes to amaze me. Seeing this once more on Tuesday afternoon made up for what I had missed in the morning. The environment is open, right on the edge of town. Plenty of food to find and deciphering their 'talk', the messages they pass on to each other would be so interesting.
It was fun to edit the pictures in Picasa, taken through the glass window, reflecting items of the interior.



In the summer we had scaffolding up for renovations of the building. Two rooks appeared every day late in the afternoon. One of them was persistent in catching my roommate’s attention, turning its head to the left, to the right, coming closer to the window all the time. Not only this: it took the steps, going up to another level – every day the same ritual. It was amazing. Apart from this they seemed to do some meditation in the sunset. I have observed this often with my dogs and my cats: they place themselves in a spot where they catch the last sun rays, face towards the sun, curled up, in total happiness it seems.

Not only looking out and up from my room is wonderful, looking down is just the same. The sun is warming up the earth. A changing glow arrives on the tree tops.
The gardens in my work environment are worthwhile spending more time on in next posts. You can walk out of a door and forget completely that you have just left a huge building. A building so huge that when you go into it you are absorbed by it and the outer world does not seem to exist anymore. I am very privileged to have a room with such a magnificent view and so in touch with the outer world. On going home I hear the endless loud conversations of the starlings as I walk to the parking garage.



The spring itch has affected the gardeners: they are renovating the terrace. Soon we will be sitting out there at lunch time, looking out on a wide rectangular pond with in the distance two buildings called ‘The Popes’.