THE ROBIN AND THE SPARROW, Chapter 4

While Dr. Owl was busy with his committee members formulating further plans the little mother birds stayed with their nests. When each egg is turned over every day they did it with great care. Did Mother Robin remember that all her babies were lost last year when the egg shells were too thin from the harmful sprays and other pollution that often caused eggs to break before their time to hatch? Did she think how the melodies hidden in their little hearts would be lost forever and their performances in the Sky Dome would never be seen? Perhaps at some level a gene of special caution was slipped into her cells and so she happily took special care and listened with hope for that first little peep still within the egg that is sometimes heard by the mother bird even the night before they hatch.

Time seemed to wrap around itself as the future became the present. Dr. Owl had just announced to his group that good progress was being made for preserving the trees. The "Good Question" segment of the CBC Daybreak radio program invite listeners to present their questions and usually within a week or so the CBC research staff will have an answer. Today's question asked on March l, 2008 was answered this morning. "What predators can be relied upon to diminish the pine beetle numbers?" The scientist answered that the woodpeckers have been the most helpful predators so far. The territory required for these wonderful birds is diminished as the voracious beetles destroy local forests. The trees become dry, turn red and die. They become a fire hazard that has destroyed homes, businesses and wildlife. With Global Warming keeping them cozy through winters and not the usual below zero temperatures, the beetles increase in huge numbers as they work their way into Alberta and other eastern areas. There aren't enough woodpeckers for such a massive job.

Just then Robbie flew in with special family news. But before he could relate his dispatch Sparkie wheeled in at wing edge, barely able to balance himself on a branch and spun a remarkable tale he had just heard from his cousin, Barney Sparrow, who lived on a nearby farm where they had borrowed a barn hayloft to nest in that year.