Thursday 13th January 2022
Tide is just about turning to retreat down the beach. Wind at my back heading East to the groyne. 9C but the wind makes it feel colder. Flag on the horizon flapping in the sunrise. Pink clouds towards Brora across the firth. The sounds of shrieking cold water swimmer friends in the big blue and crows making car-like noises. Birds back today with Oystercatchers and Wagtails flitting about. But it is a crow that catches my attention and I manage to get close enough to capture it on the podcast audio.
I stop to watch our smart jet black bird. Amongst the seaweed that has collected on the ever-accumulating sand by the groyne, it has found a bite to eat. A shell containing some sort of morsel, a muscle perhaps? The crow proceeds to fly high up in the air before dropping it’s catch and then chasing close behind it to the beach. Like skydivers flying after one another in formation. The bird does this once more after the shell landing on the soft sand does not break it open to reveal the fleshy reward. Once again it rises high, releases the shell and skydives after it to the sand. Again and again, the bird persists until finally it breaks and the bird has breakfast.
Biomimicry is a term more of us are now familiar with, essentially being inspired by nature to solve humanity’s biggest challenges. By observing, understanding and copying nature potentially any problem can be solved.
Is there a problem or challenge in your life which needs your persistence? Is there a problem at work perhaps which you have to keep finding the energy to persist in solving? What can you learn from the persistence of a crow? What will keep you finding the energy to persist?
Nairn Beach Notes