Tuesday, June 28, 2022

The Delta

We are officially at the Delta! It's our first day here and I cannot imagine why any bird would want to leave. It's rightly called the most beautiful place on Earth!

Just as the sun rises at the very crack of dawn
A purple heron, an egret, a spoonbill and swan
A pygmy cormorant, Dalmatian pelican, and stork
Come to Narcissus and Cawlin to have a talk.

In the pelican’s cavernous pouch
10 or 20 fish seem to crouch
the stork put his head
in the pelican’s mouth
3 fish freshly dead
he brought out
And then he said
“O Narcissus our most esteemed Venerable guest
Rudds for you and your friends- the very best
This most tasty treat
you must all eat.”

Athena had just arrived
having traveled all night
While on moles and rats she thrived
Fish too were quite all right

Though fish was really not her cup of tea
There were no complaints from Penelope
She had already searched and found
A worm or two upon the ground.

Stork: Narcissus, I've been searching all over the Delta for you.
Me: Can I help you? Do you need my advice?
Stork: no, but you are the first bird to put a human business out of business. So, all birds want to meet you.

A flash of black, a crack of twigs and Codrin who had left early in search of a means of transport beyond the Delta appears as if by magic.
Codrin: I found a truck! Let's go!
Cawlin: You didn't!
Me: Wait...he probably did, but we still need to make plans. I want understand where the truck is, who is driving it and how we can get on it. Perhaps some of the birds here can help.
Pelikan: Is it the red truck in the nearest parking lot? It goes all the way to Constanta.
Codrin: yes!
Cawlin: How do we get on it?
Pigmy cormoran: He counts his boxes after he naps because he worries about human thieves. The two legged thieves he says are dangerous. He does not take us birds into account.
"We just need to distract him when he counts the boxes." the egret adds.
Spoonbill: That driver shouts at and runs after pelicans asking for dinner. Once a younger bird got scared and spilled his pouch full of fresh fish near the truck. So, he keeps repeating the trick, but he is mostly harmless and definitely gunless!
Stork: Don't waste more fish. I will fly by and stop on the top of the truck. He'll think I'll bring him a baby. I could bring a rock and drop it on his head.
Swan: I'd frankly not trust him to take birds to Constanta after being hit on the head with a rock. It's stupid enough already.
Heron: There is a sad story about a stork whoes babies were cruely murdered by an evil king because of a prophecy, which said a stork will steal his baby. Unlike in reality, the stork does not suffer powerlessly, but takes action. She kidnaps the small baby princess and raises her to be kind towards birds. The princess returns to the palace when she is old enough. She detrones the evil king and leads the kingdom rightly with the stork as her primary advisor.
Egret: Human leaders might loook like huge pink frogs, but a frog eating princess will never be accepted as a leader of men
Cawlin: a stork advised kingdom will never get beyond the nearest pond. It will also never be seen higher than a telegraph pole.
Stork: Hey, unlike crows we cross oceans and migrate all the way to Africa every winter. Besides, it's a story. Most stories have a happy ending even if it's not so in real life.
Codrin: Cawlin is unlike most Danube crows. He's the son of Mother Cleverbrain from India.
Stork: I wouldn't have guessed. I've heard of her.
Me: Let's fly over to the parking lot. We'll hide in the bushes while the rest of you fly over the human and go on with your arguments as loud as you can.

Along the shore

When the ship is moving, Petra is not collecting data. So, when she is not analysing data, myself, Codrin, Cawlin and Petra are free to wor...