Born to travel

Sam and I were the youngest audience members tonight. I told him to tie his laces or else he'd have 50 grandmas on his case. I also told him that as he was the youngest audience member by about 30 plus years, the future fate of all the birds in the whole world were in his hands. I think he aged 35 years at that point.

Packed auditorium at the zoology building. Long presentation, the speaker, who was very good, spoke for nearly 2 and a half hours, with a wee tea and cake break in the middle....this audience age group have it sussed on the essential catering front.

But back to the migratory birds, for that was what it was about, and they are a wonder to behold. Humans make the birds' incredible journeys across harsh terrain and endless oceans so hard, so high risk, with our self centred, short sighted need for stuff, our need to hunt and kill, our wars and stripping of lands. And these beautiful birds, some no bigger than the palm of our hand, make distances of thousands of miles, often in one flight, migrating as they have done for time immemorial, for food. Some migrate just around us, only flirting a few fields away. But they are all Born to travel.

So much we don't know about them, as they navigate by the sun, by the stars, by the guidance of their parents, by magnetic fields. And so much we stupidly put in their way.