A bird’s eye view for a week

Even racing pigeons need a break, you know. This week I have mostly been hanging out at The Isis Education Centre in Hyde Park. I have had a lovely time. As I flew over Hyde Park I spotted this lovely sanctuary down below – it had a pond and trees and best of all...humans. So I swooped down. At first the humans were a little wary.  They all came over and stared at me for a bit. And they giggled, and brought their friends. Seriously, you’d think they’d never seen a pigeon before. Some of them tried talking to me and one wrote down the numbers from my tag and went off.

They seem quite kind and they put out some water for me and gave me some seed.  They have not given me the nice comfy roost that I am used to, but I seem to be quite in control of these humans. They do really interesting things here.

On Wednesday a load of children arrived. I had to go to my hiding place for a while as they were noisy and splashing about near my pond. They had nets and I was a bit worried that I might get caught up in one. They took lots of creatures out of the pond and then examined them under these machines which made the creatures look HUGE. Some of the other children were dressed up as pirates and were building boats and making flags to wave around. I really liked the bright colours of their flags and stayed close to watch them.

On Thursday, I was hanging out on the roof. Not even this place was safe from humans as two appeared up there with a camera which they used to take pictures of a huge group of humans who gathered below to smile and wave at us. I went to see what these smiling humans were up to and I saw they were sanding and painting (some of the benches that I have often enjoyed perching on in the park). Others of them returned with spades and forks and looked quite hot and sweaty. They had big bags of weeds. My humans did not feed me on this day, but I found I could wander around under the humans and catch the lunchtime crumbs. They all find me quite charming, so it is really easy to get food from them.

Friday was a really nice day. It was quiet around the building but my human friends were there. They come to see me each morning and talk to me. I have no idea what they are saying but I think they are trying to be kind. They are not always very clever and they shriek a lot when I try to come inside. I have wandered in and out a few times. It is interesting to see what they are doing. Sometimes the humans meet up with a group of other humans and go for a walk with them. They were also busy getting ready for something. This turned out to be a party with lots of secondary   students. I sat on my perch over the door to watch. This is a good spot as I can see what the humans are up to. They are very particular about keeping the place clean for me and each morning they wash the floor beneath where I sit. I think they do this as they want me to be happy here.

After the party, I ruffled up my feathers ready to sleep. Curiously, the humans did not go home. They had a big light machine which lots of moths seemed to be attracted to, while the children watched them with amazement. After a while, the humans all went to sleep.  In the morning, they got up and came out to say good morning. I am glad they realise I am the important one and they should treat me well.

I got some fresh water, which I think they wanted me to get in. I didn’t really fancy having a bath but they would all get really happy and excited whenever I got in the water, so I did it a couple of times to make them feel good. Then some of my new pigeon and magpie friends came to play with me and the humans gave us some bird seed.

It really was a great week. I could have stayed longer but I'll admit I was glad to see my old friend who used to care for me so well. He gently cupped me in his hands, put me into my special carrier and I happily returned to my old life in Essex as a champion racing pigeon. Maybe one day I will get to fly over this little haven in Hyde Park and have a little holiday with my new friends again. I just wish they would stop calling me Giles when my name is actually Molly.