The Swans have come to Crimea. I knew they would but my family was very surprised to see all of the big swans sitting on the Black Sea ice a few weeks ago and this past weekend when we went to Feodosia we ran into 50 or so swans sitting on the beach begging for food. I remember meeting them when they were further south so I knew that they traveled around the Black Sea throughout the year. .
I was very happy that I could have this chance to renew old friendships with long lost friends and send greetings to a few others that we knew in common. They had heard that I was here and were very happy for the chance to speak with me. They needed information about the locals that I was happy to provide for them. We spoke of our travels and what we had learned over the intervening years. It is so good to speak bird with long lost friends and while I am happy with my family I sometimes long for the chance to converse in my native tongue, even with foreign swans and cormorants
The word is that times are hard this year, fewer people are stopping to feed them because of the ongoing threat of bird flu but they will be hitting the air soon and continuing their travels so I am glad I saw them. I have included a few pictures of the Feodosia Swans and Virginia included the Kerch Swans in one of her PowerPoints. Well I must get back to dictating stories. It is a long slow but enjoyable process. The ladies writing the stories for me all seems to be typing with only one hand. They use the other to cuddle me as I speak and I guess I go a little slower because I have to say I enjoy the attention and can use the help scratching under the chain maile. It does get a little heavy at times.
Ed