Sex in the Island

It's spring in Lotus Island and the harbour is abuzz with incipient love making activity! The Oyster Catchers have returned. They never are apart from one another and there is never, ever, group sex among them. They always announce their return with high piping whistling. The Blue Herons are battling for tree space for nesting in the same large Douglas Fir over our studio. My daughter and her friend counted six herons squabbling about which branch should be allotted to them. The pianist thinks some of them are yearlings longing to return to the nest and being kicked out. I'm not sure how many herons constitute a heronry. The diving ducks and mergansers are still waiting the herring return so they can fatten up and go elsewhere for nesting. In the meantime the herring that are on the way to this spawning harbour are getting ready to lay their eggs on the Eel Grass and then be eaten. The harbour seals are about to take pleasure in one another and eat all the herring and any other fish that think there is an easy ride here. If you have a dog in your walk on the beach, the seals follow you with great interest. The small birds in the hedgerow at the beach are busy nest building in the hedge and the little males stand a vigilant guard on top of the spent Black Bamboo stakes that I leave for them. The dabbling ducks (American Widgeons) will eat the Eelgrass with relish once the herring eggs are on it and the gulls and crows, the loose eggs lapping at the shoreline. The pianist is the eagle expert and tells me they are now in the process of nest renewal and refurbishing and will soon continue their connubial relationship. I don't have the time or inclination to subsitute watching Sex in the City.