We’ve all been through it. You know, some time in our lives when we fall in love with someone and they just don’t reciprocate. That’s what happened to Nigel, except Nigel’s Flame was made of stone. You see, in an attempt to attract more Gannets to the coast of New Zealand, government officials built a flock of concrete decoys to draw in more of the real birds. The plan worked, but it had one sad side effect for a Gannet that has come to be known as Nigel. He fell in love with one of the statues.
Over the next five years, Nigel stayed by his lady love, never giving up in his attempt to woo her. Sadly, that love has not only gone unrequited, but has turned tragic as Nigel passed away on February 1st of this year, never having a chance to know true love with another living bird.
Nigel was very faithful to the colony…I think it must have been quite a frustrating existence. Whether or not he was lonely, he certainly never got anything back, and that must have been very strange experience, when he spent years courting. I think we all have a lot of empathy for him, because he had this fairly hopeless situation.
Would it be fitting or ironic if they built a statue in his honor?