Pelicans on the Bay earlier before the ship left the dock.


All photos and videos taken by Midi with her iPad. 

Ballad for Whirleybird
(tune: Old Blue, supply your own voice!)
 
There was an osprey named Whirley
Lived on a crane not in a tree.
Hello, Whirley, we’re glad to meet you.
Hello, Whirley, and your sibling too.
 
One day Whirley said to mother nearby
“Momma dear, I want to fly.”
“Go on, Whirley, give it a try.
Go on, Whirleybird, you can try to fly.”
 
So Whirley lifted off from the nest,
Hovered in the air above the rest.
“Good job, Whirley, now you are free.
Good job, Whirley, now, you’re just like me.”
 
The next day, Whirley left the nest,
Flew around then landed to rest.
“Come back, Whirley, come home to me.
Poppa has a big fish to eat.”
 
After a while, Whirley grew hungry
So she flew back to her family.
“Good girl, Whirley, you got your wish.
Now it’s time to eat your fish.”
 
But that night, Whirley could not rest,
And so she flew again from the nest.
“Come back, Whirley, it is still night,
“Wait until early morning light.”
 
But Whirley that restless bird
Didn’t heed a single word.
“No,Momma, I want to be free.
And  I just want to be me.”
 
Whirley flew all that day
Up and down and around the bay.
Chirping, “Here I am, family, now I am free.
Here I am, family, don’t you worry about me. 
 
Then Whirley dove into the Bay
To catch her  first own fish prey.
“Oh no, Whirley, wait for us to come too.
“No, no, Whirleybird,, we have to teach you.”
 
But for Whirley it was too late,
Her restlessness cast her fate.
“Good-by, Whirley, we’re sad to see you go.
Good-by, Whirleybird, we’ll miss you so.”
 
Now Whirley dives into primordial sea
Catches shining fish for all to see.
Dive on, Whirley, catch a fish for me.
Dive on, Whirleybird, be wild and free.
 
And she soars so high in the skies
The sun reflects her golden eyes.
Fly on, Whirley, fly to the sun.
Fly on, Whirleybird, oh restless one. 
 
Now when you look up in the sky,
If you chance to see our Whirley fly by, 
Tell her, hello Whirley, now you’re wild and free.
Fly high, Whirleybird,, looking down on me. 
 
Hello, Whirley, now you’re wild and free,
Fly high, Whirleybird, looking down on me.  
 
Midi 7/17

​In Memoriam 


       You were always the restless one,                  
       Ever looking towards the sun                         
      Just waiting for the day                                  
     When you could fly away.                             
 
        You were eager to try                                     
                   To spread your wings and fly                                    
        While your sister wanted to rest                    
         You couldn’t wait to leave the nest.               
 
            And that restlessness cast your fate               
         As you flew off into the late                          
                     Dark night sky on your own,                                    
​Spent the next day alone.                    
 
       Now,Whirley, a year from that day               
         We send our loving thoughts your way          
           Pray that you now are flying high                  
                    In some far off, beautiful sky                                    
          Fishing in a mythical sea                                 
        Happy and content to be free.                        
            
 
Midi 7/5/18

                                                                    The Purple Snake 
                                                                             by Midi
 (Please note that this story is fiction. Only Snakey and Craigor know where the truth lies. And the cap was not red! At least not that year 😀

A young boy named Craig crept downstairs early Christmas morning, before anyone else was awake. Santa had come! In his stocking, he found various goodies. There was an orange and some candy and a can of nuts. When he opened the can of nuts, a toy snake sprang out.  The boy laughed aloud. But then he saw there were more presents. On the mantle, a bird with a red beak bobbed up and down over a glass of water. There was also a glass globe with black and white discs revolving slowly. The boy wondered about these toys and the science behind them, but he would consider that later. For under the mantle, on the hearth, he saw more: a game called Shoot the Moon and a long, purple velvet snake with googly eyes. Craig fell in love with the snake immediately. He named it Snakey.
The rest of Christmas Day passed as all Christmas Days, Craig and his sister playing with their toys, family visiting, and a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. That night, the boy got into bed and fell asleep immediately, his new snake friend at his side. And every night after that, the snake slept with the boy. 
The snake, of course, was a toy. While the boy loved his snake for many years, and it went on vacation with him to the cabin, it finally fell by the wayside, as the boy grew older and his interests turned to art and music. He learned to play an instrument and he got artists’ pencils to draw. These consumed his waking hours. And finally, one day when he was at camp, his mother was housecleaning and she got rid of Snakey. 
Many years later, when Craig was now a man, a little girl named Maria went shopping with her mother. It was the day before Christmas, and the girl’s mother could not afford new toys for her daughter. So she took her to the thrift store. There the girl fell in love with a purple snake. It was old and no longer had any eyes, but Maria didn’t care. She loved it anyway. She tied a red ribbon around its neck, named it Snakey and slept every night with it. 
Maria took Snakey everywhere with her, to daycare, to the store, to the park and to the beach where she and her mother liked to walk. And one day, Maria put Snakey down for a moment while she waded in the water. Her mother called to her that it was time to go home. “Ahorita,” her mother admonished. And in that terrible moment, Maria ran to her mother and left Snakey on the beach. Of course, she realized her mistake as soon as she got home, but her mother didn’t have time to take her back to the beach and it was not until her big brother got home that evening that she could return. Alas, Snakey was gone.
Maybe another child took it, her mother said. Or the waves came up and washed him away. We’ll get you another toy, she promised. A new one this time.
Maria couldn’t sleep that night or the next. She thought Snakey had run away and she didn’t know why. Had she made him mad? 
Meanwhile, two little osprey chicks had hatched in a nest atop a rusty old crane on the waterfront. Just like Craig and Maria’s parents, the father osprey, whom the humans named Richie, liked to bring gifts to his mate and children. He especially liked red things, so he brought a red cap, a red pennant, a red plant pot. And each of these was rejected by his mate Rosie;  she would push the object out of the nest and she took the red cap, flew out over the bay and dropped the cap in the water. But Richie was not discouraged. He would simply go looking for something else. And one day, he found the perfect gift for his two chicks. It was long and would help fence them in. It was purple not red, but it had a red ribbon around its neck. It had a large soft head to use as a pillow. So Richie picked up the snake, which was bigger than he, and flew with it back to the nest. 
Rosie seemed to accept the snake. It did make a good fence. And the two chicks liked it. At night, they would snuggle up against its warm body and lay their heads on its soft head. They were unaware of the two human children who had done much the same. 
The humans who came to watch the nest became aware of the snake and wondered how it had gotten there. Where had Richie found it? And how did he lug it all the way to the high nest? As the chicks grew older, the snake was moved to the edge of the nest and and forgotten. Soon it dangled over the top and was in danger of falling. But it hung on. 
One day, Maria’s mother said, “Let’s go to a different spot today, instead of the beach. I read about a bird nest high on a crane. I would like to see it.”
Well that sounded like fun, so Maria agreed. She didn’t like going to the beach now anyway because it reminded her of Snakey, whom she still missed very much. When they got to the spot, Maria craned her neck to look way up high. There she saw a large bird perched on a railing. That was Rosie. In the nest, Maria saw the head of the young chicks. Suddenly, Maria shouted. “Momma, I see Snakey!”
“Where?” Her mother looked around on the ground.
“Up there, in the nest.” 
Her mother looked, but all she saw was a round purple thing and a red ribbon.
“Yes, it looks a bit like Snakey,” she admitted. “But it’s probably just a piece of kelp.The birds like to gather kelp for their nest.”
“No, it is Snakey,” Maria mumbled. But she didn’t argue further; she knew it would do no good. Strangely, it made her feel better to see Snakey there. She didn’t need him anymore, she decided. The chicks were little; they needed a bedtime pillow. They could have Snakey.
A man and a woman came up next to her. 
“There are the osprey,” the man told his wife. “That’s Rosie the mother on the railing. And you can just see the heads of the chicks in the nest.” Then he exclaimed, “And I see Snakey!”
“Who?” his wife asked, bewildered.
“Snakey, my pet snake. The one I had when I was a boy. He had googly eyes. I slept with him every night.”
His wife just looked at him. “Craig, that was years ago. How would your snake end up in an osprey nest?”
“I don’t know,” he mumbled. “But it sure looks like him.”
“Excuse me,” Maria said in her bravest, most adult voice. “That isn’t your snake, that is my snake. That’s Snakey. I used to sleep with him. But then I left him on the beach by mistake.”
Craig looked down at the little girl and smiled. “I guess you’re right,” he said. “My Snakey didn’t have a red ribbon and he had googly eyes.” Then he stopped, thinking.
“He was probably new when you got him?” he asked tentatively.
Maria shook her head. “No, Momma couldn’t afford that so we went to the thrift store.”
“Hold on,” Craig said. He took out his cell phone and placed a call. “Hi, Mom,” he said. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just have a question. Do you remember that purple snake I had as a child? I don’t suppose you remember what you did with him?” There was a pause. “No, I’m not still mad. I was just wondering whether you threw him away or what. I never asked.” There was another pause. “You gave him to the thrift store? Which one. Yeah, yeah, really? Okay, thanks Mom.” Another pause. “Nothing, I was just wondering. No, I’m not excited. I know it was a long time ago. Listen, Mom, I have to go. I’ll call you later. “
Craig turned to Maria’s mother. “Did you buy Snakey at the store on the corner by the grocery?”
She nodded. “Yes, that store is so old. I think it has been there forever.”
“As long as I have,” Craig answered. He turned to Maria. “I think that is my Snakey and your Snakey,” he said. “He once had eyes but somehow he lost them. I don’t know how he got the red ribbon.”
 “I gave it to him,” Maria said. 
“And now he belongs to the osprey chicks,” Craig mused. “I wonder what they call him.”
“Snakey,” Maria answered. She didn’t have to guess. She just knew. What else would you call a pet snake? “Where do you think he’ll go next?” she asked.
“Who knows?” Craig answered with a far off look in his eyes. His wife and Maria’s mother just looked at each other, smiled and shook their heads. 
 
 

 
This story is fiction and just for fun. While Snakey was a fun item in the nest, in general items made by humans are not good for the ospreys. Nets, plastic sheeting, wire, fishing line and other human made items endanger the birds. Please dispose properly of any trash when you are by the bay.