She came from Australia to SFU for a semester on a student exchange program. She answered the ad Marc put in the local student newspaper, calling for people who want to go bird watching. She didn’t know what she was getting into.
We set up a birding tour at Burnaby lake. It was all staged. The most charismatic birds went on a parade in front of us: Wood Ducks, a Great Blue Heron, a Bald Eagle, a Belted Kingfisher. A Pileated Woodpecker was hammering at the closest tree trunk to us with his thick, strong bill. She was impressed. She didn’t suspect a thing.
After the show was over, I excused myself and pretended to go the the washroom. The Pileated Woodpecker was just around the corner. “You did a good job” I said. The Woodpecker’s red mustache didn’t flinch. I handed in the money.