A new driftwood bird has landed in Colwood.
‘Kelsey the Kestrel’ is the newest addition to the driftwood sculpture family after nearby residents noticed that the last bird, Eddie the Eagle, was stolen on Friday morning from Herm Williams Park.
‘Eddie the Eagle’, a bird made out of pieces of painted driftwood, was part of four birds on display at the park for Forest Lights, a new family-friendly event during the holiday season. The only remaining pieces were his yellow talons and a chunk of his tail feathers.
“I’m just glad I was able to make this one [Kelsey] in replacement of Eddie,” said Paul Lewis, driftwood artist. “I’m not too happy about the paint job, but it took a while to made this one.”
The artist took two days to work on the blue, white and brown-coloured bird, inspired by Robert Fraser, a Victoria photographer who captured an American Kestrel in Sidney.
READ MORE: ‘Eddie the Eagle’ sculpture stolen in Colwood
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It usually only takes five to six hours for the Colwood man to build a bird, but he had to dry the wet driftwood by his fireplace before he could craft it.
“I’m so numb to it,” Lewis said of the theft. “There are no consequences. We can’t press charges or do anything about it. The community gets more pissed off than I do. It’s really unfortunate.”
Now, Kelsey will sit on the same branch Eddie used to occupy, waiting for her friend to return.
“I’m not gonna give in to vandals or thieves,” said Colwood Mayor Rob Martin. “Just from the reaction of the community, it’s quite clear that we don’t want to see this happen again. We’re a type of community where we don’t want to have to bolt down the art to make sure it isn’t stolen.”
Martin added that they will place security measures heading into the future, but didn’t specify what that would look like.
“We’re hoping the people who took it will think better of their actions and return it to the park so it can be repaired and enjoyed by all,” the City of Colwood said in a Facebook post on Saturday afternoon. “Please message us … if you have any information about this.”
aaron.guillen@goldstreamgazette.com
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