lyftarar

Increasingly, I am seeing them as a couple of birds, doubtless a nesting pair. God knows where they might winter. Clearly, though, they are summering here, having chosen to nest at a cliff base, as so many migratory species do. Huge fulmars or guillemots? Except these are belong to a long-necked species. Cormorants? They are fairly far inland.

I can imagine their entry in some handbook: red body and underside, comparatively short black legs and feet, black neck, gray head. Call sounds like high-pressure paint sprayer with a humming or whining undertone. I see them nestled down in the evenings when I leave work, necks folded and heads resting on their breasts, side by side.