Herons and Swans

Herons

Still heron, woven

Into the weft of the reeds

Designs on small fish

Long neck poised, beak sharp

Black-flecked greybeard ruffles breeze

Eyes pierce the stream's heart

In the flooded field

Looking glass lake reflects his

Elegant attire

Five Swans

Five grey swans fly low

Wings lift the cold, lead sky up

Over the Levels

Wagtails and Starlings

Two Territorial Wagtails

Steam from frosty fence

Rises, as tempers flare hot

Wagtails flip the bird

Starlings at Dusk

Starlings spread a quilt

Of sunset gold, pink and blue
Murmuring the moon

The Chattering Hedge

All cosy, couched in

Hawthorn and elderberries
Sparrows nattering

Magpies

Four magpies, fighting
Tag teams of feathered fury
Tumble in the trees

Blackbirds and a Red Kite

The Blackbird

The hedge brambling bird

Quietly picks a path through

Tangled branch and fruit

On finding a blackbird, unexpectedly

Bright eye catches mine

Yellow-bladed beak and claw

Daggers drawn, retreat!

Red Kite

Caught in the willows 

A call hollows out the wind

Crying solitude

Jackdaws

The Cherry Picker

Silver hooded stealth

Picks fruit just ripening red

Enough to eat, shoo!

Glastonbury Abbey

Above the old ruins

Rising in a slow spiral

Jackdaws dance at dusk

Jackdaws

Soft silvery hoods

Drawn high over hunched shoulders
Jackdaws call matins

Swifts and Sparrows

Swifts overhead

A glint of metal

Catches my eye, high in sky

Palette knife paints blue

Sparrow Lane

Street theatre in tree

Leaves shake with laughter, cheep! cheep!

Sparrows tell rude jokes