Faex Avium |

I have always been fascinated by poo – the processes of its becoming, its powers to encourage life, and the endless jokes about the subject told by four-year-old boys, and by those boys who have not left their childhoods entirely behind. Over the years, I’ve also enjoyed reading about poo. Some of my favourite books have been Nicola Davies’ Poop: A Natural History of the Unmentionable, Josh Richman & Anish Sheth’s What’s Your Poo Telling You?, Susan Goodman’s Truth about Poop, and Jeannette Rowe’s Whose Poo? (There are more titles here for those wanting to follow up this line of research). Then, sometime in 2016, I noticed that a friend of mine started posting the occasional photo of bird poo on her Facebook feed. I was immediately struck by them. They spoke to me of simplicity, of randomness, of good humour, and of temporality. They highlighted again for me the enormous disparity between my own environmental footprint and that of other creatures. They also invited me to better notice a part of my everyday landscape, especially things like footpaths, objects that are otherwise quite uninteresting. Captured, I started doing the same – taking photos of bird poo. For a few weeks or so, it became something of an obsession, one that resulted in missed trains and lateness to meetings, interesting discussions with curious onlookers wondering what the Methuselah I was doing with my phone so close to the ground, and much amusement with children. It’s been fun. While beauty may well be in the eye of the beholder, joy should be shared. So, below are some of the images I’ve captured, shared in the hope that others may enjoy them too, or at least get a good giggle out of one or two of them.

Mortality on the Farm

Wild Goose Blues

Godot’s Tree 2

Drunk Conductor

Dementor

Battlefield

Rabbit

Horizon

Colonial Ties

Ostrich Running

Swing the Baby

Flashes

Mountaineer

Signature

Natalie

Elegance

Fireball

Marlin

Witch Travel

Banksy

Jabba

Dancing with the Stars

Running Moa

For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground

Rabbit

Summer Playground

Heidegger

Leather Jacket

Godot’s Tree 1

Angel Fish Parting Ways

Landscape

Lily

Almost a 6

Southern Alps

Mouse Riding the Stringray

Mouse Outside the House

After Bruegel’s Blind Leading the Blind

Garden Shrimp

Santa’s Sack

Angel Fish

Melbourne Cup, 1930

Spill

Sapling

Hummingbird

Horseshoe Crab

By the Sea of Galilee, Israel (taken by Stefanie)

Texas Devil

Uprooted, after the big winds on Sunday 9 October, 2016

Harbour Islands

Scorpio

Phophatidylserine Receptor

Out of the Game

Dandelion, Stripped

Bilateral Amputee, Juggling

Pod

Love Under Fire

Stoat

Collision Course

Marker

Emu Running

Cat Looking

Hosanna

Footballer

All the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy

Communion

Excited

Angler

Dancing Brolga

Lung

Pelvis

Knight

Invitation

Cirque du Soleil

Emergence

Late Advent

Reflection

Adam Ant

Jordan

Seed

Sakuran

Cracking the Whip

Herons

Balloon

Bull Terrier

Reduviidae

Alison Preparing the Duck

I will build a great wall – and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me – and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall …