Flying High

Getting High Earl Plato
Old friend, the late JoAnne (Fiazza) Columbus and a fellow writer, shared this little anecdote recently. “Chris and I went to Florida one winter. We came across a good deal in ‘ritzy’ Vero Beach.” JoAnne described the ‘high class’ setting - tuxedos - evening gowns for dinner. She said “Chris and I were not in our element but the accommodations were right priced for us.” That’s not why JoAnne called. She had a nature story for me. It brought back memories for us both. Behind their Vero Beach hotel a strange scene was unfolding. A tree was filled with robins feeding on what JoAnne thought were choke cherries. On the ground robins were acting strangely. They ‘wibbled and wobbled.’ These birds that probably had migrated from Canada had become inebriated on the fermented choke cherries. “Drunken Canuck robins?
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Internet research: Several bird species have been found to behave in a disorderly fashion after feeding on fermented fruit. That’s a fact. My best viewing was that of a Kingfisher at Point Abino one fall. The bird had fed on fermented grapes. “Loop-the-loops” and other erratic flying was the result. Quite a sight! Back to the Internet and the Starling. Research published recently reveals that Starlings have developed a powerful enzyme that keeps them sober! Wouldn’t you know it. One of my least favourite birds can handle the strongest drink! Any implications for humans?
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Our little Bonaparte gulls are back on the Niagara River. What a delightful sight to see thirty or forty of these graceful gulls swoop down an up together along the river. Bonaparte? What’s in a name? Research tells us that the small delicate gull is named after a nephew of Napoleon.
Charles Lucien Bonaparte was a leading ornithologist in the 1800’s in America and Europe. A good name. Unfortunately a good meal for a Peregrine falcon recorded on my E-mail on December 15th.