Anne Fitzpatrick
When the first rays of sunlight break through the dense canopy, the forest hums with life. This is my favorite time, just before the world wakes. I sling my binoculars around my neck and step outside, greeted by the humid, earthy scent of the Daintree Rainforest, Australia. The laughter of kookaburras echoes through the trees, their calls bouncing like playful taunts. “Good morning to you too,” I mutter, smiling.
The last ten years have shaped me into someone I never expected to become. After my husband walked out for a woman half my age, I thought I’d wither. Sixty-four now, I can see it clearly: he didn’t leave a void, just a clearing. And in that space, something new grew—a fierce, consuming passion for the feathered inhabitants of this ancient rainforest.
At first, it was a distraction, an excuse to fill my days. But the birds, they drew me in. Their songs became familiar, their quirks endearing. I learned the crimson rosella’s flirtatious tilt, the way the cassowary prowls with ancient grace, and the magpie’s unapologetic boldness. Eventually, I stopped watching and started connecting.
A few of them live with me now—rescues, mostly. Percy, the rainbow lorikeet, sidles onto my shoulder as I brew my morning tea. He nuzzles my cheek with his tiny beak, a gesture so tender it squeezes my heart. Then there’s Blue, a rescued Victoria’s riflebird, who dances his courtship display for no one in particular. Sometimes, I clap for him.
People think it’s strange, the way I’ve let them take over my life. “Aren’t you lonely?” they ask, as if a man’s absence defines my happiness. I laugh, sometimes bitterly. “Lonely? You don’t know the sound of loneliness until you’ve lived with someone who’s already left you in their heart.”
No, I’m not lonely. Percy preens my hair as I scribble field notes, his chirps filling the quiet. They don’t demand or disappoint; they just are.
I’ve found my place here, in the midst of their fluttering lives and untamed songs. I don’t lack for love. It surrounds me, vibrant and wild, with feathers and flight.