A bit of a late fill in – time has been a bit short over the last couple of days. Woodpigeons are attracted to young crops, and are kept at bay by various bird scaring devices in the fields. Instead they settle in significant numbers in the mature trees in some of the gardens along the Lane, somewhat despoiling anything beneath, and consequently one or two of our frustrated neighbours resort to an air rifle to “dispatch” the occasional individual, and at the same time scaring away the others. A couple of weeks ago one of my friends, who is also a neighbour, texted to ask after my health following a visit to the local pub the previous evening. He had been poorly overnight, and decided that maybe the beer had been “off” or possibly the peanuts had been out of date. I felt fine. During a later conversation he told me that on that particular evening his wife had cooked a pigeon that he had dispatched earlier, and had found a tasty recipe to prepare it, although maybe the bird had been slightly under cooked. I pointed out that just maybe it wasn't the beer, delivered through sterile pipework that had been at fault, not the peanuts sealed in a sterile packet. Just maybe there was an alternative possibility to be considered. This had not occurred to him.
I like the details in the feathers - stripes in the back and sort of puffs everywhere else. I do not think this pigeon liked your story from the looks of its face.
