As I think back on the pristine surroundings of my childhood I continue to marvel at the beauty of the island and the view from Bird Cove. I remember one particularly fine day that I was about the place and looking out the bay, when suddenly I head a roar coming from overhead. Quickly looking up I saw a large bald eagle falling in a steep dive toward the still, blue green, and very transparent water of Bird Cove. I watched in amazement as it dropped in a straight line from several hundred feet and hit the water with an incredible splash. It all but disappeared, but with a frantic flapping of wings managed to keep from disappearing all together. I was sure his predatory greed would carry him under, but he rose with difficulty a large salmon hooked in his talons, and slowly, still flapping frantically, cleared the trees on the far shore and disappeared. Somewhere I knew was a nest of hatchlings waiting for a salmon dinner.
Living on the island was like living in an arboretum, but in the privacy of your home. I used to enjoy watching a plethora of wild life but particularly the ruby throated hummingbirds every summer. What fascinated me even more then their iridescent plumage was the mating ritual of the males as they wooed their desire. In front of our house between the road and the beach was a hedgerow of salmon berry and other shrubs. It gave me endless pleasure to watch the male hummingbirds dive straight toward the hedgerow. In amazement they always pulled out of their dive just short of hitting the hedgerow, while making a che, che, che sound over and over again with each repeated dive.
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