Back Bird

From The Pataphysician

Artwork by Gail Bradshaw

A sister project to On Night Wind, The Pataphysician features solo piano music recorded between 2012 and 2017 and collected for release in 2023. Some of the pieces, like Back Bird, are short explorations of one motif. I feed nectar to our local Anna’s hummingbirds, taking special care to help them through the Arctic outflows that blast across the Salish Sea a few times each Winter here on southern Vancouver Island. There are three feeders, spaced around the house in an attempt to reduce conflict between the male birds, who will murder each other over access to food and shelter. I have several times failed to nurse wounded warriors back to life. Hummingbird beaks are sharp. I keep the nectar from freezing with thrift store incandescent mini lights strung around the feeders. Back Bird is the name of the tiny handsome male who has claimed the feeder which hangs in a Japanese honeysuckle outside the back door. On the coldest mornings I find him on his perch, bright red throat pressed up against a glowing yellow or green mini light bulb, watching me to decide if he should kill me right now or wait until afternoon. So far I have been spared.