SEE MIKE'S PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE BIRDMAN. CLICK THE LINK ON THE TOP RIGHT OF THIS PAGE >> So, Saturday, using my ‘freebie’ Centro pass (that dates me), at 08:30 I arrived at the Rotunda and sure enough a swallow’s nest, very realistic albeit a ‘b*****’ big one, was attached to the side of the Rotunda, some 100 feet from the ground.  | | The birdman flinging feathers |
The birdman showed for say 30 seconds and ducked back into the nest. As the crowd increased, people commented, “What’s this all about?” (Some said ”I don’t know mate”; some said, “Bloody waste of time”). More showings of the ‘Birdman’, now throwing hay from the nest, with gestures - playing a swallow. Was I now hooked! On the way back home I decided to make it a project for a possible lecture.  | | Mike Jemmett |
The following days it was the reaction of the people, the crowds, the rumours of “What will the birdman do next?”. The atmosphere was electric for me. A ‘snappers’ paradise. Sunday, an egg was laid, some six foot tall, an ‘eggcelent’ depiction of a swallow’s egg. Next day, the birdman grew feathers like an American Indian headdress, with the following day, him throwing feathers. On the last day I arrived to find the birdman had ‘flown’ and a question mark hanging over his departure as below the nest was a chalk outline of a swallow, with an ambulance in attendance.  | | Looking at the nest |
As a photographer, the reward for me was the reactions written on the faces of the crowds, their individual comments. The memories and pictures of this event will be a part of Birmingham’s history; the birdman will never be forgotten for the ‘life’ he put back into the area around the Rotunda, even if only for a short time. Thank you birdman! and enjoy the snaps. SEE MIKE'S PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE BIRDMAN. CLICK THE LINK ON THE TOP RIGHT OF THIS PAGE >> | 
