Rock Dove (Columba livia) ©Flickr Oleg Sidorenko
The Long Christmas Journey
~ by Emma Foster
Once there were two birds who lived in Portland, Oregon. Their names were Belinda and Steven and they were pigeons (a.k.a. Rock Doves).
Belinda and Steven lived on top of a stop-and-go light in the middle of a busy street where they had built their nest. They loved the city life so they didn’t mind all of the cars driving by, especially when they honked. They also didn’t mind all of the headlights that lit up the streets at night. Every day, Steven would fly through the city to search for food. And every day lots of cars would drive by.
Rock Dove (Columba livia) ©Flickr Edward Townend
As December drew near, it started to get colder. Eventually, snow started to fall. The more snow fell, the colder it became.
Belinda and Steven decided it was time for them to fly down south for the winter. They would spend Christmas down there just as they did every year. They both liked spending Christmas down where it was warm.
Rock Dove (Columba livia) ©Flickr Andrey
They started flying early the next morning because it was going to be a long journey to fly down south. As Belinda and Steven travelled, they were careful to not fly too high when they flew through the mountains because the tops of the mountains were cold and snowy. They flew past many mountains because Belinda and Steven were flying through the Rocky Mountains.
Rock Dove (Columba livia) ©Flickr Ingrid Taylar
Eventually, after several hours, Belinda and Steven reached Death Valley. It was nice and warm there. But Death Valley was a little too warm for them. Fortunately there was a group of road runners that gave them directions to Arizona. Belinda and Steven were already in eastern California so it wasn’t that long of a flight to get there.
Belinda and Steven were able to fly to Arizona and made it there by Christmas Eve. It was nice and warm and the desert was filled with cactuses. Belinda and Steven decorated a cactus with some Christmas decorations they had brought with them so the cactus looked festive.
Together, Belinda and Steven had a wonderful Christmas, and they didn’t even mind that it would still be a long trip back to Oregon. They would have to come back to Arizona next year.
The End
Rock Dove (Columba livia) ©Flickr Ken Slade
Lee’s Addition:
Storks, doves, swallows, and thrushes all know when it’s time to fly away for the winter and when to come back. But you, my people, don’t know what I demand. (Jeremiah 8:7 CEV)
Thanks, Emma, for telling us about your migrating Pigeon friends, Belinda and Steven. Smart birds for escaping the winter cold up there in the Northwest.
Keep up the great stories. We are all enjoying them and you a gaining quite a fan club. We are looking forward to more stories through this New Year. Happy New Year.
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Filed under: Bird Tales, Birds, Birdwatching, Guest Writer, Kid's Section Tagged: Emma Foster, Home School, Journey, Migration, Nature, Pigeon
