Editor's Choice, January 2010

EDITOR’S CHOICE

Winter chill

telephone wire

40 birds wing to wing

Leslie Anders

*

Although this is an oft-written theme Leslie’s rendering is still excellent. It is also a scene which we all have seen and therefore is familiar. James Hacket’s famous sparrow haiku depicts these little birds without a neck because they huddle together and puff up to keep warm. Penguin daddies do mass ‘hug’ while waiting for their partners to come back from the sea. The bodies of thousands of them generate heat, especially in the centre. The outer circle is the coldest and therefore these gentleman birds take turns to be exposed to the chill.

Forty must be a round number, guessed by the author. It is a good number. The expression ‘wing to wing’ is good. It is a clear image, easy to grasp and nicely presented.