When Word Spreads Birds Gather Fast (standard:travel stories, 906 words)
Author: Juggernaut	Added: Feb 23 2013	Views/Reads: 2822/1927	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Word spreads very fast among the bird community, Juggernaut learned this fact first hand very fast.

When Word Spreads Birds Gather Fast 

Subba Rao 

Loud street noise and without elevators, the condo on Walua 

Road was certainly over priced  but again the bright sun sets to watch 

from the porch compensates.  On clear days, shades of yellow to crimson 

light  linger on the horizon well after the sun sets into the ocean. 

Juggernaut understood from the meteorology course at the college long 

time ago that it was the scattering of violet and blue lights by the 

air molecules that generate hues of yellow to red sun sets and for this 

to happen the clean air is crucial.  In Hawaii, with far less air 

pollution, the sun at dawn and dusk were always spectacular under the 

clear skies.  The sun sets at Kailua-Kona were as good as seen at 

Negril beach in Western Jamaica or from Old Seven Mile Bridge in 

Marathon, Florida or Sombrero Beach on the Florida Keys. 

During the walks on Alii or Walua Road, Juggernaut noticed 

several birds either in flight or resting on the trees, on one occasion 

a group of parrots flew over a nearby tree, raising hopes that parrots 

do exist on the Big Island.  There were more birds to be seen at Kona 

on west side of the island though it is dry  with less tress unlike 

the  rainforest on Puna district on the  southeast side of the island. 

With the idea of attracting the parrots, Juggernaut placed bird feed on 

the narrow porch and watched eagerly to see a house finch landing 

suspiciously to feed on the seeds. Then came few Java sparrows with 

colorful head gear followed by few doves, and then came two bright 

yellow saffron finches to join the group. The narrow porch besides 

offering sunset views also provided a feeding ground for the finches, 

doves and sparrows. The bird population multiplied quickly as if the 

word went around fast among the bird community of a bird feeder. 

Though no parrots were noticed thus far, a lone red cardinal appeared 

on the porch to check out the surroundings, the cardinal came alone for 

the first time just like saffron finch lone visit earlier joined by its 

mate later.  Sooner or later, the word should spread beyond the doves, 

finches, sparrows and cardinals into the parrot community to come and 

join the feeding frenzy on the porch. 

While feeding the birds on the porch, Juggernaut's thoughts 

went back to his boyhood days growing up; his father, a doctor turned 

their huge backyard into a rainforest and a petting zoo.  He spent more 

time in the backyard with plants and animals than in the clinic 


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