A hidden magpie on arrival at Faisal’s. The foliage overhead on Nicholson was dense now, the branches stretching wide; in another few years the strip would draw better custom. Over the last 4-5 years identifying that particular warbler had been more or less immediate after Robbie Bell’s memorable imitation back in ‘17. With eight years on the Equator the earlier calling from the top of the Norfolk Pine in Bab’s front yard had been more or less forgotten, certainly the distinct timbre & melody. There had been one or two masterful mimics of birdcalls in Singapore; and many more no doubt who had failed to reveal their talent. Only a few weeks before Deng the Sudanese had drifted off from the cafe table to his cowherd years by the marshes and waterways back home, quietly reprising the song of some unnameable bird hidden in that past life. What was so striking about Robbie’s performance in that first Spring meeting was his revelation that as a schoolboy he had spent two years completely mute. There had been some bad bullying in secondary school, something clearly devastating for the lad. Robbie still had an occasional stutter, yet on the phone the voice was invariably radio-announcer smooth. During the mute period you would bet Robbie had been listening hard, to birds and all other aural information.
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