birds of the holy cross

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Originally uploaded by nostalgist

I went with Jeremy to the bird sanctuary today. He's written about it in his blog - it's this funny scruffy piece of land right by the knesset which is practically the only protected wildlife sanctuary in the city. About 750,000 birds pass through here a year, and at the sanctuary they tag them and chart them and give them a place to eat, drink and rest. Today was mostly robins and sparrows with one bulbul keeping watch. The sanctuary is also beside the kever (grave) of the Rahak, which is visited by ultra-orthodox jews. I kept imagining someone coming to the kever to pray (people go and pray for health, or fertility etc.) and slowly getting fascinated by the birds. I walked home through sacher park and then the valley of the cross and decided to go into the museum at the church. I walked into the courtyard of the building and it was full of birdsong. There were three large bird cages built into corners in the monastery walls and full of exotic and tropical birds. I thought perhaps the birds were somehow connected (to the cross? or Helen, who was said to have built the church? or somehow some connection to St. Francis?) but the man who ran the shop said they were only there "because they are nice".