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Friday, July 8, 2011

Romancing a hospital house sparrow

A young hospital house sparrow waits for lunch.  Mine.
photo by Jonathan Schechter

The letter "P" of the world Hospital makes for a perfect house sparrow nesting site.
photo by Jonathan Schechter


I have a passion for toothy beasts. Wolves, cougars, bears, lions, coyotes, leopards and gators all
make my heart beat faster. And I consider myself lucky having seen six  of the seven. (No cougars)
But even an interaction with the common house sparrow is pleasurable, and my on going
romance with a family of these winged fluff  balls of energy continues. 

When I'm not out and about in the world of nature I work several days a week as an emergency department  paramedic in a busy urban hospital.  But I have my niche of sanity for
 lunch breaks -- a corner of the parking lot where I take my lunch most every day.
And the house sparrows that nest in the letters HOSPITAL have found me.

Moments after walking out the ER door sometimes one, sometimes two, sometimes the entire
house sparrow family flaps over to jump about at my feet and do their best "Please feed me look!"
 they can manage.  And I do.  They have trained me well.  And I'm just happy that as the
 romance continues not a single house sparrow has asked for narcotic pain medications:
At least not yet.
   

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