Wild Wings

Callum is awed by the sight of the huge bird up close: “It was the osprey’s eyes that fascinated me. They were sunflower yellow, bright and intense. When she fixed me with her eyes, it was as if she was looking right into me” (80). Hamish takes a photo of the nest, which contains three eggs. He worries that if Iris is away from incubating them for too long, the eggs might not hatch properly. With Callum’s assistance, Hamish is able to cut the fishing line. The bird has sustained a minor injury to one of her claws, but Hamish assures everyone that this will heal soon as he sprays it with antiseptic. He then puts a transmitter on the bird’s back. He explains, “[l]atest technology. We strap it to her back, a bit like a minirucksack. It tells us her position. You know, where she is in the world” (81-82). They should be able to track her migration path all the way to Africa.

Using a special code, the children can follow the bird on Google Earth. Hamish cautions the group to keep the osprey nest a secret. Some poachers like to steal the birds’ eggs, while others poison ospreys in the belief that they take too many fish. Hamish lets Iona select a band to put around the bird’s leg. It has the letters R.S., which Iona says should stand for “Iris,” and so the bird is named. Callum argues that the name isn’t Scottish enough, but Iona retorts that the osprey spends half the year away from Scotland. Callum gets the honor of releasing Iris into the sky.

The next day, Callum returns Rob’s borrowed bike, but the latter is still angry and accuses Callum of liking Iona more than his friends. Rob repeats Callum’s comment that she is a “nutter,” so Callum punches him in the face. The boys get into a scuffle and then turn away from each other. When Callum arrives at the tree house, he finds Iona waiting for him. Additionally, he sees his father, brother, and Hamish up in the treehouse fixing it up. They’ve widened the platform and added a corrugated metal roof and proper walls.

Later, the group returns to the McGregor house for a meal. Mrs. McGregor invites Iona to stay for lunch, during which the girl polishes her plate and asks for more. Apparently, her grandfather doesn’t look after her very well. Mrs. McGregor informs Iona that Grandpa McGregor knew Mr. McNair very well. They both raised prize sheep. She ferrets out a photo album to show the girl. Among all the other old photos, Iona spies a familiar sight.

Iona shows everyone a picture of the loch and the island from 1905. “There, unmistakably, on the tallest pine, was a huge tangle of sticks. It was so obviously an aerie, much bigger than the one Iris and her mate had built” (95-96). Hamish points out that ospreys completely disappeared from Scotland shortly after that time, up until the 1950s. He cautions the family not to reveal the location of the nest to anyone because people have been known to shoot the birds or steal their eggs. After Iona leaves for the day, Callum retrieves an old scrapbook and removes its contents. He writes, “The Ospreys on our Farm” (97-98), and he decides to keep a record for posterity. Rather than giving the geographic coordinates of the site, Callum merely describes it as a secret location in Scotland.

The perspective shifts to Iris herself, sitting on her nest that night. She recalls being handled by the humans, which she didn’t like, but also remembers the boy who looked into her eyes. “Somewhere deep inside her, Iris folded the landscape of his face into the mountains, skies, and rivers of her soul” (101).

Once summer break begins, Callum and Iona spend most of their time in the new and improved treehouse. It now has a table and chairs, shutters, and a shelf. Iona proudly hangs sketches she’s done of the birds. By the second of August, she has captured images of the growing chick because only one of the osprey eggs hatched. The children watch from the treehouse window as the hatchling learns to fly.

Iona takes out her box of paints and begins a new sketch. She speculates that Iris looks sad: “She knows she can’t stay however much she wants to. She can’t help it. She’ll leave her chick and go” (108). Iona cries, thinking of her own missing mother. She holds a gold locket with a photo of her mother inside; there are scratches on the photo. Callum says that Iona’s mother will return, but the girl doesn’t believe him.

By the middle of August, Callum learns that Iona’s birthday is coming up, and he tells his mother, who insists on making a cake. The McGregors hold a little celebration with Hamish in attendance. He gives Iona a book on birds of prey as a birthday gift. Since Iona mainly runs around barefoot, Mrs. McGregor gives her a pair of pink walking boots and socks. Iona is delighted with the gift and the color. After eating, the children go out for a walk.

School is about to start the following week, and Iona proposes that she and Callum should spend a night sleeping in the treehouse before then. Callum agrees, and they plan to meet there on Saturday night. Iona cautions him not to come to the treehouse before that date because she’s preparing a surprise.

On Saturday afternoon, Callum smuggles some food and sleeping bags out of the house. When he climbs into the treehouse, Iona isn’t there. Instead, he finds a mural on the side wall of an osprey. When Iona fails to arrive, Callum walks to her grandfather’s rundown cottage. The old man lets him in and says that Iona is sick with the flu. Callum visits her briefly, telling her that he likes the mural. He then gives her an osprey feather that he found on the road. Before he leaves, Iona makes him promise to take care of Iris. Callum doesn’t know that this is the last time that he will ever see Iona.

The next morning, Callum receives the news that Iona has died. She contracted meningitis and not merely the flu. Callum is angry and upset, so he runs out of the house and climbs into the treehouse. It has been raining steadily, and Iona’s mural is fading from the moisture. He screams out of the window at Iris, announcing that Iona is dead: “Dead! But what do you know? You’re only a stupid bird” (129). Iris calls out to him and lands on a branch next to the treehouse. Callum knows that she must soon begin her fall migration but has come to say goodbye. They look at each other and experience a moment of connection. Iris feels the pull inside her and knows that it’s time to go. She flies away.

A few days later, a funeral service is held in the local church. All the neighbors arrive to pay their respects, even Rob and Euan. Mr. McNair walks in with his daughter beside him. Nobody recognizes the haggard, frail woman as Fiona McNair. After the service, Fiona stops briefly to talk to Callum. She hands him Iona’s locket and says that it now belongs to him. “I flicked open the locket, then wished I hadn’t. On one side was the picture of Iona and on the other side, in the small heart-shaped space, was a photo of me” (134-35).

Later, the neighbors say what a shame it was that Mr. McNair didn’t take better care of his grandchild. Mrs. McGregor roundly criticizes her neighbors and herself for not extending a helping hand. Back at home, Mr. McGregor tells Callum that Rob and Euan are coming by to go fishing on the loch with him. Callum objects for fear that they will see the osprey nest, but his father rebukes him and says that he needs his friends.

Callum sullenly agrees to go out on the loch with his friends. Rob sheepishly confesses that he was a little afraid of Iona’s fierceness. Euan is on the point of landing a trout when the boys see the male osprey plunge into the water and emerge with a huge fish. Euan has been beaten to the catch by a bird.