August Birds

Barnstaple

Brent Geese fly; as stark
As the roundabout stones stand
Against the blue sky

 

Magpie

Striped youth, still callow
Finding berries flutters high
Into sapling tree

 

Little Egret

On Bridgewater road
Origami bird flies past
Legs folded, wings shaped

Updated versions of both paperback and eBook for 2025

Swifts in June

Eight swifts winging it
Free-wheeling in the blue zone
Feathered rocketeers

Sparrow fledgelings, swifts, woodpecker

I am bereft. Now
My view, an empty nest box
Sparrows fully fledged

 

Two swifts returned and
How they wheel to Summer’s June
Dancing their duet

Green woodpecker swoops
Low; the grass shawl of the Tor
Wraps summer ’round her

Spotted on a trip to London

In a Field

Twenty pheasants have
A sporting chance now winter
Has turned into Spring

Red kites hovering
Almost still as we rush past 
Train-bound to London

Great Bustard?

On a chalk ploughed hill
I glimpse a giant bird. Wait…
Did I just see that? 

The fish pond, brimfull
A mirror for morning light
Heron reflects there

Into London

Leafy suburbs pass
Trees home for two woodpeckers
Woodland corridor   

On the Thames today
Two swans wend their way past boats
And mud larks; low tide!

Wren, Starlings and Magpie

Wren

I hear you singing
Through the window, you reach me
With a bright Spring song 

Starlings

Two shiny green birds
Ornaments on bare branches
Winter-jewelled tree

Over flooded fields
The flock ripples out. Black boats
Fish on the dawn tide

Magpie

Wings in, arrow flight
Look at you, surfing sunlight!
Soon beached on tree branch  

Big Garden Birdwatch 2025

I counted you up

Each vital wing a prayer:

Nature’s abundance