Lost for 130 Years

Shown in the pictures are not just any ordinary birds. They are Fiji petrels, said to be "one of the rarest of all bird species".

Sightings of Fiji petrels are extremely limited. The seabird, one of 192 bird species listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, once "went missing" for 130 years. After a specimen of the species was collected in 1855 in Fiji, there was no further confirmed sightings until 1984, when an adult was caught, photographed and then released.Since then, there has been unconfirmed reports of the bird at sea but no confirmed sightings.

In May this year, some scientists and volunteers set out in search of this elusive bird. Over 11 days, up to eight individuals were seen and photographs.

"To see such a little-known bird at such close range was magical," said one of the expedition members.

The remark and the pictures remind me of a dream I recently had. In the dream, I saw at a magnificent eagle gliding across the sky. I was fully of admiration, thinking that I had never seen such a giant eagle, when it swooped to a most graceful landing for me to admire it at a very close distance. My feeling was the same as that of the expedition member. It was magical!I believe that dreams carry special meanings.

A book I read sometime ago says that dreams represent our collective subconsciousness and in them there are symbols that have been passed down from countless generations that are very rich in meaning. I have been thinking what symbolic meaning that dream of mine carried and what revelation it was trying to make.