The haunting whistle of a green rosella cut through the early-morning mist. A Bridgewater Jerry had laid a meandering carpet of pure-white cloud across the Derwent and I presumed the rosella had sought higher ground to escape the mist.
The rosella, hidden within or behind a line of ornamental fir trees marking the boundary of the Calvary Hospital in Lenah Valley, was out sight but not out of mind.
The parrot’s call formed a portal, a link to the natural world although I was isolated from it. I lay in a hospital bed, depressed, in pain, after total knee-replacement surgery. I looked across to Mt Rumney on the far side of the Derwent and wanted to be walking its slopes. Somewhere out there a parrot flew free and here I was trapped in a hospital bed, unable to move.
As I lay there I listened to the long-drawn-out whistle of the parrot. I strained to look beyond the window and could only see the firs, which in turn framed the distant view of Mt Rumney. The call, though, kept me connected to the wild world.
Five days in hospital, the mind drifting under the power of painkillers, I had much time to contemplate the natural world and my reliance on it for my own well-being, to keep me fit in body and mind. Birdsong and the calm it creates is the soundtrack to my daily life.
I didn’t need the euphoria of drugs to inform me that birdsong can be viewed as subliminal, sounds rooted in our consciousness over millennia, reminding us we share our world with other sentient beings. Birds tell us when to rise in the morning and, when they fall silent at night, when to contemplate sleep. They alert us to the changing seasons, the promise of spring or the approach of the shortening days of autumn. In times not so long ago, they told us when to sow and when to reap.
I strained to look through the window to see the parrot – its beautiful call sounding incredibly close, the whistle filling the ward. I was still semi-conscious and traumatised from the lengthy operation, and the sound I often hear from my garden was familiar and reassuring.
Being in the presence of wild birds can have profound effect on both our mental and physical wellbeing. Many of us use bird-related recreation for mood lifting and relaxation, with birdwatching being linked to reduced stress, anxiety, and depression.
The memories of my operation came back recently when I was in hospital for a less serious procedure. But since the knee-operation the increased health benefits of exposure to the avian world have been proven in a study by researchers at North Carolina State University in the United States. The study found people involved with nature reported improved well-being and lower psychological distress.