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Re: HALL OF FAME
http://peregrinefalcon-bcaw.net/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=113
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Author:  CorvaCXVI [ Mon Jun 20, 2011 11:47 am ]
Post subject:  Re: HALL OF FAME

Sue, your poem in tribute to Mom is BEAUTIFUL! I have tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. Thank you for letting it be shared here.

Author:  westwindschild [ Mon Jun 20, 2011 7:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: HALL OF FAME

MA, thank you so much for posting this for me, and for putting up the beautiful forum banner for Mom from last September. I had so wanted to see it again and didn't know how to call it back once a new banner was put up. Do you have a file of them? I loved Scout's also.

No matter how much I love New Girl - and I do love her - I will always miss Mom. She was, as Jane said, falcon perfection. No poem can ever capture what she was, or what she meant to me. But this is as close as I can get to saying how I feel.

Author:  bev. [ Mon Jun 20, 2011 8:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: HALL OF FAME

just beautiful WEstwindschild. You can just feel your love and true admiration of her.
thanks for sharing this with all of us.

Author:  SusanE [ Tue Jun 21, 2011 11:59 am ]
Post subject:  Re: HALL OF FAME

Westwindschild, your poem brought back my emotions for Mom that I thought had passed, but I see are so near the surface as my tears flow freely, remembering what a special spirit she was. Thank you for sharing those beautiful and comforting words.

Author:  Beth [ Tue Jun 21, 2011 4:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: HALL OF FAME

Thank you Sue, you have a such a incredible gift and what a privileged it has been to meet so many
wonderful gals/guys because of our love of falcons and nature.


Many thanks to SgB for all the terrific topics/threads to honor our friends...human and members of the animal kingdom!

Author:  jannypan [ Sat Aug 13, 2011 1:33 am ]
Post subject:  Re: HALL OF FAME

I can't believe he is gone

Author:  Sally [ Tue Jul 01, 2014 7:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: HALL OF FAME

SGB the tribute to Orville was truly beautiful. I was very touched by the video. Orville was special and I can see why he is missed and why he was loved. :cryinggirl:

Author:  westwindschild [ Mon Jun 08, 2015 7:05 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: HALL OF FAME

This may not be the right place for a tribute to a chick that only lived 6 weeks. But I had such a strong reaction to dear Blue's death, and I had to write it out. I thought it might speak to others as well.

Image

To Blue (a Fledge Watch Lament)

Our lives intersected only briefly. I approached and you backed away, showing me your talons. You could not know I was there to help. I was just another big scary thing in an hour of scary things. I held your attention as your eyes, keel, wings and legs were checked. You were perfect. Not a single flaw. I held the box open while you were placed inside and closed it around you so we could carry you to safety.

It was a joy to watch as you stood on the roof, your beautiful brown sails unfurled and flapping, your tawny breast feathers ruffling in the breeze as you hissed defiance at us. One day later, it was a joy to watch those sails carry you faultlessly through the air and to the highest point you could see. It was a joy again two days later to watch you spring into the air and soar confidently over a rooftop. How could I know?

I saw the man cross the street, his arms held out, cradling your body. I thought how curiously still you were. He should be careful, you might bite and scratch as you did on your banding day. He approached and held you out to me, and still I would not let myself comprehend. I had just seen you. You were fine.

I cradled you against me, and stroked your silky feathers, and saw the thin blue membranes covering your eyes, felt the limpness as you lay on my arm. And my knees went limp. “No,” I whispered. “No.” But it was you, and nothing could bring you back. You never knew what happened. You flew around a corner and sailed forward into what you saw as a blue sky. You didn’t suffer an instant of pain; you were gone before you fell. Maybe you are still flying into that blue sky you saw, joyously playing talon tag and catch-the-tail-feather with the other young falcons that left us too soon. I hope so. I will see you that way in my mind.

I held you in my arms, and touched my fingers to my lips and pressed a kiss lightly on your head as I whispered, “I’m glad you got the chance to fly, little one. I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you. Sleep tight, dear Blue.” As gently as I could, I wrapped your too still body, and laid it with care in its temporary resting place. One last pat across your wings, one moment more to take one last look, then I stood, quietly closed the door, and walked back outside.

As a fledge watcher, you know you can’t save them all. You know you are going to have your heart broken over and over again. But you also know that while you stand watch at a fledging nest, each young falcon has a better chance to survive than if you weren’t there. So you love them all anyway, and when they fall you let your heart break and you cry for them. Then you stand up straight and turn your eyes to the sky and keep watching. Because you can’t save them all, but you sure by golly can save some.

Fly high, sweet Blue

Image

Author:  gigi [ Mon Jun 08, 2015 10:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: HALL OF FAME

Oh my gosh. How tenderly and eloquently stated. Thank you for sharing your beautiful tribute to Blue Girl.

Author:  Carolyn [ Mon Jun 08, 2015 10:29 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: HALL OF FAME

That was so beautiful westwindschild. :cryinggirl: Thank you for sharing your lovely thoughts about Blue.

Author:  SWINWK [ Tue Jun 09, 2015 2:58 am ]
Post subject:  Re: HALL OF FAME

Westwindschild, a very loving and befitting tribute for our Blue Girl. Thank you for placing it here. It brings me comfort to gain this insight and to know that you received her in death.

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