A Walk Through The Town Of Lubeck - #6

As we were walking, the air was suddenly filled with the melodious sounds of a bird song that was sweet, varied, quavering with a fantastic range from low sweet notes to shrill high pitches. We instinctively searched for the source of the song.

And found it perched high on the roof a building. I quickly sneaked a shot and caught this. Interestingly, there was a statue of an owl with a wire running to the top of the building. I had no idea what is the purpose of that ‘owl’ but guess it had something to do with attracting bird or providing food for it, maybe? Another mystery of life apparent to ‘the know’ but mysterious to the one who have never seen it.

“A blackbird!” Hendrik exclaimed. Having never seen a blackbird, I thought blackbird was like an Asian crow. And who can forget the nursery rhyme –

Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye;
Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie!
When the pie was opened the birds began to sing,
Oh wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king?

And in all the illustrations I had seen related to that nursery rhyme, the blackbirds looked like crows. So I am not to be blamed. Thus, it surprised me that the blackbird looked like a flying black tub with yellow beak. It is fat, I thought a bit unkindly. But it could sing heavenly. It did not fit my bias image of a lovely singing bird. Who would have thought but then I remembered the late Pavorotti and was chastised.

After my initial shot, I trained my camera for a clearer and better shot. It decided to have none of that and away it flew to my regret. I tried to follow its flight and saw it flew into this wall of vines and disappeared inside. The whole of this building was completely covered. What a lovely shade of green.


That was a whole block away and we walked towards it all the while not taking our eyes off it and hoped it will stay long enough for the hunters to arrive. As we neared the house of leaves, we slowed our paces into cat’s steps trying to land softly on the cobbled street. It was no longer singing choosing not to give away its position but I can still hear its refrain through the lines of Edward Thomas –

And for that minute a blackbird sang
Close by, and round him, mistier,
Farther and farther, all the birds
Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

We were practically standing right beneath the wall and no matter how we searched, we just could find where it was. We stood there and searched and searched but we just could not find the blackbird hidden in the vine. So I implore it with the lyrics of The Beatles –

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free

And I realized that the lyrics suited the blackbird better than me. I could not see with my sunken eyes and the blackbird was waiting for its moment to be free. So I pointed my camera at the general direction where I thought it was and clicked and clicked. As I moved in even closer to try to unravel the mystery, the blackbird decided it had enough of me. A shaking of leaves, a flurry of movements, a dash for freedom and the blackbird was free of me.

p.s. could you see the blackbird hidden in the vines in the last photo? But if you want a real challenge, try finding it in the second picture, ha ha.