The world is a mask that hides the real world.
Thatâs what everybody suspects, though the world we see wonât let us dwell on it long.
The world has ways - more masks - of getting our attention.
The suspicion sneaks in now and again, between the cracks of everyday existenceâ¦the bird song dips, rises, dips, trails off into blue sky silence before the note that would reveal the shape of a melody that, somehow, would tie everything together, on the verge of unmasking the hidden armature that frames this sky, this tree, this bird, this quivering green leaf, jewels in a crown.â¦
As the song dies, the secret withdraws.
The tree is a mask.
The sky is a mask.
The quivering green leaf is a mask.
The song is a mask.
The singing bird is a mask.
Monday, June 13, 2005
searching for Scorpio's daughter
Search on for falcon chick, by Deirdre Cox Baker, Quad-City Times, 13 June 2005
A Peregrine falcon chick is missing from its nest atop the MidAmerican Energy Co. headquarters, 102 E. 2nd St., Davenport.
The baby bird is not yet able to fly and probably is on a downtown rooftop or street, said David Sebben, a building technician and the MidAmerican employee who keeps an eye on the raptors.
Sebben said the 38-day-old chick, called an eyases, disappeared between 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 8:30 a.m. Sunday. The bird is covered with fluffy white down, which is beginning to give way to brown and black feathers, and has a leg band identifying it as "N/30."
She is the daughter of Scorpio, a Peregrine falcon who was reintroduced to nature after the species was decimated by the pesticide DDT. Falconers began the project in Iowa during the 1980s, and the birds are on the state's Endangered Species List.
The falcon nest is at the top of one of Davenport's tallest structures. Baby Peregrines previously have been located along 2nd Street and on the roof of the Radisson Quad-City Plaza Hotel in downtown Davenport.
Anyone who spots the chick should call Sebben at (563) 333-8950 or his cell phone, (563) 320-1796.
