Blue and Green – Follow the Peacock

Green. In the forests of the Calanques, in parks and in private gardens. After last year’s heatwave and drought, I thought Nature would suffer and be less lush this year. However, the little rain that came over the past months apparently was sufficient for most plants to rejuvenate. So seemed the Borely park-peacock also at ease and showed himself more frequently than usual. I followed him on different occasions while keeping a respectful distance.

For the peacock, the park is his own territory. It is not afraid of people. On the contrary, he enjoys attention. People walk, if not run, after him filming on their smartphones. When he wants to be at peace, he slips into an isolated bush zone where you cannot see him anymore. One day, I heard his loud dinosaur-like call from a very different spot in the park, and I made new discoveries.

That is the zone where he goes unnoticed. Almost. Surprisingly, when I took a photo of him sitting on the metal fence, he jumped off and walked toward me. He looked at me. I followed him around in his safe zone, under trees and among dense shrubs. I was quietly hoping he would raise his tail in full. He didn’t. He did ruffle the tail feathers over the ground, making a little sand cloud, maybe to tease me.

Knowing what I wanted, the peacock walked back to the site we had come from. He stopped at a rusty double iron gate. Waited for me. Looked at me. Then, jump-flew onto the gate. He positioned himself quietly. He looked again, as if saying here I am, with tail and all, in full glory. Take your photos. I took many. We both were content.