It wasn’t until I learned of the birth of Teal, Teegan’s daughter, at the beginning of February that the thought hit me: it’s sort of like gnus on the African savannah all dropping their calves at the same time to confuse and overwhelm predators. Within the space of about 3 months, three lovely women had given birth to their first child: Christine to Elliot, Rhiannon to Elise, and Teegan to Teal. Marvellous!

“Big deal” I hear you say…..children are being born all the time around the world. But….all three of these women had been integrally involved around 12 years ago with the banding program at Ruthven and all had gone on to attain post-graduate degrees in biology/ornithology. Just a coincidence? Hmmm….. Initially I was thinking that perhaps they might have picked up some sort of virus at the banding lab that then lay dormant for many years just waiting for the right conditions to come along. Naw….no matter how I work it around it’s just coincidence. But what a wonderful thing that these infants are being born into households with such bright, kind, insightful and enthusiastic parents.

Now here’s what really gets to me: these are wonderful young women in so many ways but in some cultures around the world (and even within certain cultural/religious circles in this country) these women would be just chattel bound to do their husbands’ bidding. Their brilliance would never have been allowed to shine. Their contribution would have been solely begetting children and taking care of all the menial tasks that many men deign to be beneath them. They would be just grist for the mill, ground down by mindless work into oblivion. What a waste that would have been! And just think about how many women are alive today whose lights will never shine. A tragedy…..and the World is a lesser place for it.
Rick