The Land of Whoooovair

©️By Steven Tubb, Nov. 2020

Whoooovair perched on his favourite perch, a large dead  limb of an old old old willow tree.

He enjoyed his perch because it was protected a little from the worst of the winter’s west winds. Even more important though, from the perch he could see, by turning his head almost completely around to the left or the right, most of his territory. He could hear, see and follow his animal and bird friends, to see what they were doing and where they were doing what they were doing and he could see when strange creatures entered his territory.

This land was his land even though his friends might disagree on the details. It was common for his mates to defer to his wider knowledge and in turn they told him about goings on in their smaller patches. The easy friendships in the land of Whoooovair were, well, easy. 

One day the land of Whoooovair and his friends seemed to turn upside down. It happened when a big red and black thing came chugging over the hill and slowly seemed to glide across the land before stopping at the edge of the forest. Whoooovair and some of the other birds and only a few of the animals had seen similar things before, but wisely had stayed away from them. Now, here was one of these big monstrous things stopped on their land at the edge of their forest home. Everyone within sight of it was on high alert. 

When the chugging stopped there almost seemed to be a sigh of relief as the breeze rustling through the grasses and leaves could be heard again. A sense of calm was returning until an even more unsettling event occurred. Something on two legs and another something on four legs climbed down from the big red and black thingy. The two legged creature then seemed to direct some sounds toward the four legged animal that immediately began rushing around with its nose close to the ground as it took in rapid airy breaths. Two legged, mostly looking up as if searching for something, then moved away from the big red and black thingy staying close to the forest edge. Again a calm began to return. 

Whoooovair had never been up close to one of these red and black thingys. He had seen some glide by in the distance and had seen some transform their shapes in different ways, but he had always stayed well away from them. This time was different. The thingy was now  up close and although quiet for the moment, seemed to be a threat as Whoooovair felt some uncertainty about it while resting on his perch. 

Away from the red and black thingy he now observed the two legged creature and its companion move through the forest under-brush making quite a racket as they climbed over and pushed through sticks, branches, bushes, leaves and grasses. They continued in this manner moving in a wide circle until returning to the thingy. They then climbed aboard and left going in the direction from where they had come. The forest and grassy edges returned to a more normal noise level, certainly not silent as life and communication was ongoing, but a much less noisy level than when the two visitors tramped through the forest. Then an observation started to go around the forest with comments about strips of colour hanging on some of the trees along with cuts in the bark left behind by the two legged creature. None of the birds or animals could think of a reason for the markings.

In the evening when darkness fell Whoooovair began his nightly talk with his family scattered around in different parts of the forest and wetlands and beyond. When other subjects of interest had been talked about Whoooovair told everyone about the days events and so the talk continued. He told them “whooo … whowho… whuan” then, “whooo…whowho…whog” then, “whooo…whowho…whoingy” then, “whooo…whowho…whoree…whoarkin.” It was a lively conversation, as lively as a family of great grey owls could be in the early evening. By the night’s end Whoooovair was back on his favourite willow perch, one eye opened to a rising sun and the warmth it brought. Even through his feathers the warmth could be felt. He was content on his perch and quite aware of the normal changes occurring as night changed to day and the night and day birds and animals changed shifts.

From his perch he was the first in his forest woodlot and wetland to become aware of the approaching red and black thingy with the strange creature perched on it. The four legged companion was nowhere to be seen, a relief for Whoooovair as something running around  apparently without purpose was unsettling due to a high amount of uncertainty. This morning the two legged creature had on a very different skin or fur, Whoooovair was not sure which, largely bright yellow like some of the warblers he knew.

Once the red and black thingy stopped gliding and its noise stopped, the creature again separated from it and began doing something with another smaller orange thingy which he now held just off the ground. Then, all of a sudden, the quiet calm of a beautiful morning was shattered by a noise Whoooovair had only heard about from his scattered family and maybe had heard in the far distance while on his perch half-way up the willow tree. The noise, a medium pitched rapid grinding noise, something he imagined many squirrels, hundreds of them, could create if they all chattered at the same time in the same place. The abrupt and strange noise for a time blocked thinking. His friends below and above were instantly on high-alert, but also were plunged into a frenzy of alarm. Whoooovair could see and hear none of the animals knew what to do or where to go. His bird friends had flown away. The noise was a definite threat none had had to deal with before. Like the others, Whoooovair did not know what the noise was all about. 

Soon the tone of the noise changed becoming a more high-pitched whine sound just before he saw the thingy cut into another of his perch trees, one dead for many years, but still sound enough to be a home for a number of his forest friends. Instinctively he new the cutting was not good. Then the tree started to fall ending with a great thud noise when it landed on the ground. The noises stopped and although quiet returned, the peace was short-lived.

Whoooovair had never seen anything like the event unfolding below. Sure, he had seen trees fall before, but only when the winds blew very fast. This was different and the noise almost hurt his sensitive hearing as it vibrated through him excluding all other forest and wetland  sounds he was so familiar with. Then the noise started again as the creature with the small noisy thingy proceeded to cut off the branches of the fallen tree and then cut the tree into short lengths. When the cutting stopped and the noise went away and after a few more minutes Whoooovair could hear and see commotion everywhere.

Whoooovair then saw the creature with the yellow skin and small thingy move to another tree and watched as a similar set of events happened with a tree falling and being cut into short lengths. Although Whoooovair had perched in the second tree, it was not a favourite. On the other hand he knew a number of his friends had preferred it to the one Whoooovair liked.

Whoooovair now saw the creature put the small orange thingy on the ground before beginning to pile all the short pieces of the trees as if trying to rebuild the two trees. When all the pieces were in the pile the creature got back onto the big red and black thingy and went away leaving the forest and wetland in a state of quiet shock. Gradually over the next hours some calm returned. Whoooovair knew he would have lots to tell his spread out family and hoped the events of the day would not happen again. In the morning his hope was shattered when the yellow creature on the red and black thingy returned followed by a similar set of events he saw the previous day. By day’s end the pile of short pieces of tree had been made bigger. For six days the routine continued. 

Whoooovair was beginning to seriously consider moving although he was also very curious to find out where all this cutting and piling was leading. He was also aware his bird and animal friends were looking to him for thoughts about what they could do to stop the noise and destruction of their home area. No one had any answers. 

On the morning of the seventh day the two legged yellow creature did not return. The days of forest quiet turned into weeks without any sign of the creature and of course without the creature around the noise level was just natural. Some birds had gone away and animals could be seen collecting and hiding winter food. Daylight hours were shortening, temperatures were much lower than during the hot days and a curious change had occurred. Whoooovair had noticed the pile of short tree pieces had become a home for quite a few animals. He answered his own question, “whooo…whowho…whoowhy?” by finally realizing after some considerable thought, the pile of tree pieces with all the places to hide within, would be a perfect home for small animals by providing shelter from rain, wind, snow and would be a place safe from larger hunting animals and birds.  

Soon snow began to fall and deepen covering everything. For Whoooovair this time of year was to his liking. He stayed warm in his coat of feathers, but if necessary he knew where  holes in trees large enough for him could protect from the winter winds. He also had come to realize the pile of tree pieces was a good place to find a meal. Whoooovair had excellent eye-sight and in combination with his exceptional hearing he could detect, very precisely, where mice tunnelled under the snow in open areas. For Whoooovair hunting involved a lot of patience, listening and watching for mice and other small animals straying from their protected home of tree pieces. Whoooovair now thought the two legged yellow creature had been a good thing despite the noise and destruction he had caused. Everything seemed normal now in the winter quiet with snow everywhere and although he enjoyed this time of year a great deal, he couldn’t help from feeling anticipation and longing for the white blanket to be gone and warm sunshine on his back once again.