After reading my degree at York, it's time to leave. It's been the best three years of my life. I've really come out of my shell and have so much confidence to take on the world. I've met loads of amazing and different people and immersed myself in a culture far removed from normal life. Indeed the university bubble will be one that will prove difficult, if not practically, then emotionally and sensibly.
York is a city apart from most other university towns in that it has the highest concentration of ducks, geese and wildfowl on the university campus. It's an interesting experience to begin with; skirting round inquisitive geese and being hissed at and accosted for a sandwich when they see you eating. This constant exposure to them develops into a deep appreciation for
the birds, going about their business.
Birding about
They don't fade into the background either, their behaviour sometimes throws up some real laughs when they're chasing each other, or running from some breeze-animated paper or plastic bag.
A really funny story was when a barnacle goose (you get good at your ornithology in York) was pecking at a discarded apple in the middle of a grassy quad. A much larger canada goose clocked it, and ran over, chasing off the other goose, decided it couldn't eat the apple then walked away again. All over in seconds but it makes you look again with a cocked eyebrow.
The silly avian behaviour presented itself down by the river Ouse when, during breeding / gosling season, there were many families of geese about and one parent goose decided to chase another family of geese away. It ran and hissed at the other geese, gaining a lot of speed. It slipped on the smooth pavement and fell over then ran away again. This actually caused me to laugh out loud.
Taken to heart
You can easily become to accustomed to this kind of unexpected behaviour with a kind of paternal endearment and I'm sad to be leaving this behind. It's not just me who sees a fondness for the wildfowl there are many people who work in the award winning campus media who take the animals to heart (York Vision, Nouse and the Lemon Press). Derwent college (York operates a collegiate system akin to Warwick or Oxford) prints T-shirts with duck related humour and the library gives out duck book bags as competition prizes. There is a strong feeling on campus toward the animals. I'll miss them but for me, the lure of new adventure presents itself and I'll grab it with both hands.
The secret lives of birds are just a simple, humourous example of one of the quirks of going to university and living in an area with lots of wildlife. It's one of the things you miss out on if you live at home in suburbia and commute in to study and miss these little moments.
I'm really looking forward to getting some good quality me time over the summer holidays before getting on with my master's course in the September. Please comment with your fowl histories.
