August Birds during the Heatwaves

Sparrows

From the hedgerow, flee!
A flock of fast sparrows flaunt
The field’s dry despair

Grey Heron

Three grey herons fly
Grey flags over grey rooftop
Fanfare for new life

 

The Summer Seagulls

This year, two gull chicks
Speckled pebbles on the ground
By factory door

You sent me photos
Each week, while seagulls watched them
Turn to grey goblins

Shrieking banshee birds
Surviving the heat, the dry
To fully fledge and fly

Summer seagulls swoop
Overhead. Their cold cry cuts
Goodbye, goodbye, Bye!

Kestrel

Heatwave ends today
Morning rainstorm, break cover
Brown graze of feathers

Long-Tailed Tits

Notes ring, raindrop song
Through wet boughs ten long-tailed tits
Sing sweet harmonies

 

Cattle Egret

Intricate weaving
Across a loom of late grass
Egrets thread cow herd

Apricot hair comb
White feather boa, black silks
Fine for a field day

A line of cattle
Punctuated by white birds
Full stop, comma, dash

 

Small Garden Birds in February

 

House Sparrow

Up on the bird box
You call. ‘House mate, house mate, see
My new house for thee.’

 

Chaffinch

She checks out the lawn
Among the starling flock she’s
A pale stripe in spots

 

Robin

Beak full of insects
In the morning but at dusk
A sweet song flies free

Long-tailed Tit

In the willow; twigs
All bedecked with feather bows
Singing in the pink

Starlings and Garden Birds

 

Draped across the line
Pegged out like laundry drying
A starling blanket

Last light! Not home yet
Starlings stream past my window
Super-highway skies

Garden Birds

On the bird feeder
Robin, sparrow and bluetit
Playing seed roulette

Pembrokeshire Birds, September 2023

Kingfisher

Perched on a bare bough
Cloth of gold and blue; bright flag
Above the river

 

Little Egrets and Canada Geese

We are gathering
Where the river and fields wend
A way to feed us

Two waiters in white
Among the gaggle of guests
Riverbank dining

 

Red Kites

Red wings, white tails, wind
Almost gone, now returned here
To hunt the blue hills

 

Robin near St Davids Cathedral

Cheese sarnie and tea
Spare a crumb! Table hopping
And hoping for alms

 

Crow

Sizing me up, you
Decide my cake is crow food
Beachside corvid hops

 

Sparrows

A handful of crumbs
For a handful of small birds
Happiness is here

Sparrows

Sparrow and his brood
Are moving in. The neighbours
Nesting; note the noise