Rook Takes Knight

My destination last Sunday (20 Mar 05) was the Venice Rookery. It's a little tiny island in a freshwater pond where dozens of birds build nests and raise their young. Most rookeries are in secluded locations out of the reach of predators and humans, but this one happens to be behind an FHP station and less than half a mile from the local Wal-Mart. Everytime I've been down there, I'm part of a small crowd of people gathered to get a look at all the birds. At any given moment during the breeding season, there are probably 10-20 different species of birds nesting on the small island, all well within pecking distance from each other, but getting along remarkably well. Sure, there's some pecking and squacking occasionally, but I think humans could learn a lot from these birds who are sharing that tiny piece of land.