October Birds

October

Seagulls fly past fields
Like a fishing net dragging
Autumn tides to shore

Starlings arriving
In little drifts; falling leaves
Autumn flurries fly

Weymouth

Walking Weymouth beach
He feeds the beachcombing crows
Who follow his lead

On Westham Bridge, Weymouth

By the bridge waiting
Patience of a saint, stone still
Heron prays for fish

By Beaples Standing Stone

Rook rubs the sky clean
A feather duster dancing
Around the old stone

Blackcap and the pirate rooks

These two haiku are from one walk around the local area:

Blackcap

 In the hedgerow hops
Among thorned berries, blackcap
Autumn hat adorned

The Pirate Rooks

Above the grey stone
Roof they fly; flock of black wings
And pirate bones. Arrrrh!

The Starlings Return

On Pomparles Bridge 

A sunset of starling flocks 

Fills the sky with wings 

Along the A303

Wiltshire Field 

The partridges search 

(Though no pear tree is nearby) 

For fruits of the field 

 

At Stonehenge 

Ancient autumn fields 

In gold mist reveal Hern’s deer 

While the rooks count rocks

Buzzard. Shoulders hunched
Hands in pockets; loitering
Mist curfews mischief

Cutting through the chaff
With tail cane. The pheasants chat
Pleasantries and that

A buzzard and some swallows

The Buzzard Above

Circling high above

A slow Ferris wheel ride; free

In carnival skies

Soulful Autumn blues

A crisp air and slow tempo

Solo turn on stage

A singular truth:

To know the limitless sky

Wing and a prayer

Swallows along Cinnamon Lane

The lane (bursting ripe

Hedgerows laden with late fruit)

Is your flightpath home

Crane flies, mosquitoes

Wasps, fruit flies, midge and darter

Alfresco mixed grill…

A flash of summer!

Then two more; swallow wings dip

The deepening lane

Blackbirds and Jackdaws

Blackbird Under the Hedge

Dry summer leaves drift

Into the shade. You turn over

An old leaf for snails

Jackdaws in the Old Orchard

Plums, ripe and bursting

In the beak, spill magenta

Wine for thirsty birds

Starlings in October

Over Brands Hatch

Fleeting forms billow

Abstracts on a big blue sky

Murmuration art

Garden Tree

Quick! The tree, safe now!

Six speckled sisters chatter
Starling fledglings fly

The Goldfinch

Goldfinch, bright candle

Burnished by autumn sunshine

Garden firework flies!

Grebe on the Medway

Looking glass river

Grebe gazes in the mirror

Autumn reflections

Nuthatch in the Autumn Garden

On filigree branch

Bright cut bands of agate hues

Woodland gem sits still

Through the Open Window

Now the neat chatter
Of Autumn berries and seeds
Birds swap their stories

Alternate:

Now the neat chatter
Of Autumn berries and seeds
As birds check their tweets

Autumnal Skies

Two river swans fly
White arrows piercing grey skies
This way to the lake

Starlings at Rochester Airport

At the roundabout

Rowdy cameraderie

Starlings winter roost

Up on the streetlights

All in a row gathering

Starlings settle down

Swans on the River at Dusk

Millpond reflections
Of the swans, cygnets now grown
Into grey shadows

On Minster Beach in November

Receeding tides leave

Polished sand flats mirroring

Oystercatcher's stride

Autumn on the North Downs

Pheasant struts the fields
Copper, gold and bronze feathers
Gird the early mist

~

Startled by engine
Pheasant leaps from the hedgerow
Tail feather flag flies