By Anne W. Semmes
The bright opening of Greenwich Point last Friday brought special surprises of new birdlife activity. While the humans were away the wildlife did play their hand! Beginning that waterside walk around the Point, not far from the concession stand, from the rocks came a smart-looking shorebird with two black breast bands, a Killdeer, displaying a broken wing! Her tactic for distracting us from her four speckled eggs, set among the pebbles. Thank goodness for the fencing off with sign, “Do Not Enter – Important Nesting Area.”
Even more surprising was a discovery on the alternate wooded route around the Point of a straggly new osprey nest set atop a slender tree. Wasn’t there just built an osprey platform provided near the entrance to the Park, waterside – occupied the day after it was built? But here was a back-to-nature in-the-trees nesting site!
Yes, there is an osprey resurgence in town – ospreys are on parade these days over Greenwich Point, Bruce Park, and the Byram Park area, and now there are three inland nests. For those who know of that Cos Cob Harbor osprey nest visible from Cos Cob Park, they can see it up close and personal on the Greenwich Osprey Cam featuring osprey parenting-in-the making. Check it out at https://ct.audubon.org/act-osprey-cam. Brought to us by an Audubon Connecticut anonymous donor. And, yes, an uncommon four eggs have been spotted in the nest!
Also, most definitely uncommon is the news these osprey parents-to-be are now officially named “Ted” and “Margaret” as of last Saturday’s virtual celebration of World Migratory Bird Day. Audubon Connecticut thought it fitting to honor Greenwich Audubon naturalist/educator Ted Gilman, who taught many a Greenwich child what a bird looks and sounds like, and his partner, Margaret Lechner, for their longtime beneficial presence in this town. The pair have recently flown away to retirement in their shared college town in Indiana.
News of another honoring came from Cos Cob artist Josie Merck, who keeps her “community alive at a distance” with painting portraits of them. So, why not surprise her friend Florence Phillips, actress and teacher of poetry at Cos Cob School, with a painting of the iPhone photo she took of Florence on her recent birthday – at a safe distance. “Florence loves to receive in her beautiful peachy dressing gown & Cos Cob Library green apron… land line phone in hand and iconic Easter Wreath on door.” As Josie has painted. “When the painting dries,” Josie plans to “prop it outside Florence’s house somewhere.” “Florence IS,” she notes, “one of my MUSES!”
Senior Pastor Patrick Collins of First Congregational Church in Old Greenwich had an inspired idea some weeks ago looking across the expanse of his Church’s green lawn. Why not place a white flag in the grass to commemorate each person in Connecticut lost to Covid-19. His congregation supported him. “It brings it home,” he says, “It makes it real. People stop and say thank you, having had people they know who have died.”
Over the weeks those flags have quickly multiplied into a sea of white flags. Stopping by on Tuesday morning I found Collins ready to plant 41 new flags, after checking each morning with John Hopkins University & Medicine’s tracking site for the Connecticut count. Those flags now count into the 3000’s. There’s an impact for those seeing such a swell, says Collins, “It gives them an opportunity to grieve. The grieving process is important.” Bringing his faith forward he notes, “You can’t get to Easter Sunday without going through Good Friday.”
Who should stop by, also pulled in by those flags, was Cos Cob resident Jim Himes, our U.S. Congressman representing Connecticut’s Fourth District, newly endorsed by the Democratic Party to run for his seventh term. He wanted to take pictures of those flags to share with his staff and put on his Facebook page. In his recent travels he says he had come across nothing like it.
Jim spoke of knowing a few people lost to the virus – Collins had lost friends, but he was grateful to report no losses from his congregation. Hearing those numbers of 80,000 deaths in the U.S. and 3000 in Connecticut they agreed did not speak as those flags do.
“People drive by and are in tears,” says Collins, “They appreciate the gesture.”
“You’ve really hit on how to make it real,” says Jim. “Even in a dark time people understand things viscerally.”
