So easy does life in the city make us forget how close we are to nature. And how close we can still choose to be if we just took the time to walk in the park.
I want to take you to a place in the central park of Sofia, the one called Borisova Gradina (The Garden of Tsar Boris III, last monarch of Bulgaria who held the post until the end of World War Two).
The place is somewhere between the Observatory grounds, the Water Lilly Pond and a monument dominated by a huge obelisk.
This story is not about any of those, it is about the forested part between where animals will come to meet you if you have the patience. You will know it when you see the few wooden tables and benches among tall pine trees near an oak grove.
There and in nearby areas dwell the most calm representatives of Sofia's wildlife. You may see the same variety of species in other parks around the city but here they have grown used to people feeding them from their open palms, even.
Well, some of them, at least. And it does require patience and calmness on the human's part. But in winter animals would always prefer food that requires less effort to find because effort does kill in winter. Exhaustion is a real threat when food is scarce and storing as much energy as possible could be crucial to the each specimen.
Squirrels are the most curious of them all and would trust you to touch them gently. Well, after they take what you offer they would usually take their distance. But before that... they may decide to make a thorough inspection of your bags.
Other casual visitors of spontaneous restaurants you might decide to open would be jays and chickadees or tits (different words I found for the same species).
When I stay awhile I am usually able to capture a interesting moment like the process of deciphering some alien culture's ancient writings on a bench...
Last time it was too dark to capture any good colors and motion at high shutter speeds.
It seems that the largest of them all would be the most cautious. Especially if you try to point any big lenses ot other tubes at them. They say crows are smarter than most.
Not easy to approach those folks.
About that last time I mentioned... Yes, it was dark and cold. My fiancée loves feeding the tiny creatures but she is also busy until late most of the days so we went in the park not that far away from us in not that optimal a time. I had spotted so many of the park's wild inhabitants the previous week when I had a lesson there with a student of mine... And when I brought here to the same spot a week later... nobody. Not a sound, not a pixel moving among the trees.
Well, lucky I had those magic seeds. You throw them in a thin can, they clatter there for a few seconds... and soon, out of nowhere, the usual crowd seems to spawn.
Enjoy the Dark Si... I mean the Dark Squirrel!
Please, be advised that those cute animals are still rodents, wild and may carry diseases like rabies even. Don't let them bite you. And don't do harm, too. For instance they should not eat salty stuff.
Take care!
Yours,
Manol
