I met Daniel at the St. Stephen’s Green park in Dublin. The pigeons are not afraid of people when he’s around and sit on their arms as well. He said it’s because he takes care of the injured ones and nurses them back to health (if possible, I assume). When they fled suddenly he told me it was because a pair of hawks was nesting in the area and they were nearby, and a magpie in the park gave a warning call. They were back in a few minutes, though. Daniel showed me how to handle birds and how to feed them. One of them liked me enough to travel with me along the park lane for thirty meters before coming back to his pack.

He said he worked at a charity that takes care of homeless people and that they had two deaths this winter because of the cold. We talked about birds, photography, and homelessness. He was shy about the cigarette but I didn’t want to remove anything from that picture.

I hope to see him again someday.