Ham Wall, July 2023

Bittern

Bittern; subtle brown
feathers flying past the hide
Herringbone beauty

 

Egret

Feather tutu flies
Musical winds wafting wings
Jete! Jete! Glide!

 

Swans

In the green canal
Among the waterlilies
White sails drifting by

Graceful necks bending
Low to kiss their reflections…
Pondweed slurps instead!

 

Cormorant

Sky hatchet cutting
A swathe of leaden landscape
Skewering reedbeds

Jays

Just so much gossip
In the branches overhead
Two jays chat at lunch

 

Marsh Harrier

Broad wings weave the wind
Around a stand of willows
While rain clouds billow

Ham Wall Haiku

These are from a recent trip to RSPB Ham Wall in Somerset, a beautiful reed-bed wetland.

 

Egret

The serene glide, low

Against the umber reed bank

Egret sails the wind

Woodpecker

Highest perch to hear

The wind pick up my holler!

Woodpecker’s beat poem

Mute Swan

This fine furled feather

Eloquently writes my frame

No swansong for me

 

Robin

A lone fisherman

Patient water margins wait

Red flag for dragonflies

Marsh Harrier

Bronzed sky warrior

Outstretched wings beat down clouds

Rain bringer arrives

******

Egret

'Mirror, mirror on

The floor, who has the longest

Neck of all. Why me!'