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

 

September Birds

 

Flying Ducks

Above us fly ducks
Sixteen silhouetted shapes
On a wall of sky

 

Long-tailed tits and great tits

A little storm flies
Through the garden; whirlwind calls
And lightning flash wings 

House martins

I watch from the door
House martins drawing sky signs
A language of wings

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

Goldfinch and Buzzard

Seventeen goldfinch
In the magnolia tree
Fresh buds, bright faces

Before Storm Eowyn

Jackdaw alarm calls!
Above me; silent brown wings
Buzzard, storm bringer