A place of safety?

"The Guillemot is a medium-sized auk that breeds in tightly packed colonies on perilous ledges, clifftops and rocky outcrops around the coast. These 'seabird cities' often contain other auks, including the similar-looking Razorbill, which prefers to nest singly in ravines or lower down the cliff. In May and June, female Guillemots will lay a single egg; once the chick is three weeks old, it will dramatically plunge into the sea with its father, who will care for it in the water until it is independent." (www.wildlifetrusts.org)

There are many different ways of ensuring safety for young families, and many different kinds of danger - for humans as much as for seabirds. Yesterday we heard that the young mother of our second hosted Syrian family had lost her teenage brother back home to a bomb, only a month after her cousin was similarly killed. The combination of grief, relief and survivor guilt can only be imagined.

In extras, razorbills also 'nesting' (if you can call it that); the pigeon from my earlier blip, finally defrosted and put out on a piece of high ground for a kite or whoever gets to it first (plus a complimentary mouse - our cats are liberal); and ironically, the bag I used to carry the offerings, which I noticed when I got home was from the Syrian sweetshop round the corner from our son's house in Manchester, where I'm now headed.

See also ceridwen's response to the death in Syria.