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Birds: Pretty/Disturbing

Posted on October 21, 2014October 16, 2022 by David Barker

Photos of birds are supposed to be pretty, right? The bird sits on a perch, soft light, blurred background. We sigh at the beauty. We say: awww. Take, fr’instance, this American tree sparrow I shot in Toronto’s Evergreen Brickworks:

American Tree Sparrow sitting on branch

But sometimes the natural world defies our expectations. Certainly that was the lesson from a hike through Tommy Thompson Park when I saw something hanging high in a tree. Zooming in, I discovered that it was a cormorant, neck broken, head wedged in a forked branch.

Cormorant with broken neck hanging from tree

How does something like this even happen? Does the bird get depressed and decide one day to end it all? Life’s such a puzzle.

1 thought on “Birds: Pretty/Disturbing”

  1. Tamiko says:
    October 24, 2014 at 12:04 pm

    That’s weird! Forgot about that photo!

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