A little bird once told me . . .

One of my favorite spots to spend a few hours in the afternoon is along the shore line to the east of Whittington Pier. Whittington Pier is an old pier that has long been abandoned Also known as Honuapu, this was once the site of a busy sugar cane center with a huge pier that extended out into the bay. All that remains of the pier today is a rusted concrete skeleton that is battered by the waves. A tsunami in 1946 destroyed the pier which had been abandoned after the sugar industry ended in the late 1930’s. The area was turned into a park in the 1950’s

East of the park the shoreline is mainly short rocky cliffs which the waves crash against creating fantastic displays of water splashing high into the air. If you are too close to the shore when one of these waves come crashing, not only will you get drenched, but the force might just drag you out into the ocean. If you do, there is little chance of you being able to get out.

I was sitting under a tree watching these waves come crashing ashore, when a little brown sparrow came flying up to the edge of the shade from the tree. He lands on the green and black sand about 5 feet away with what appears to be a barbeque flavored potato chip in his beak. (her beak? – could have been). The bird looks up at me and studies me for a moment or two, decides that I’m not an immediate threat and bites down on the chip. Most of the potato chip falls to the ground in pieces while the little bird continues chewing. He reaches down and picks up a piece of the chip in his beak and bites down again, and then chews. Then he takes another bite and chews. Then he opens his beak as if he has a piece of the chip stuck in his throat and is trying to dislodge it. But he just stands there with his beak wide open. Maybe the barbeque flavor is getting to him and he is trying to “cool off” his throat. He looks around as if to say, “Anyone got a drink of water?”

After a moment or two, he returns to the potato chip and repeats the entire process. He does this until he has picked up all the pieces of the chip. Then he flies away.

A few minutes later, he returns to the same spot and begins sifting through the sand with his beak looking for any missed crumbs. He looks at me, and cocks his head sideways. Then flies away.