Jackdaws

Another day of
grey skies and cool winds. Jackdaws
visit bird feeders.

Winter Fights Back

Thin ice shimmers
on the mini pond.
Minute snowflakes
float down like dust.
Biting cold
nips my fingers
as I fill the bird feeders.
Winter fights back.

Youngster

Pigeon youngster mobbed
at the feeders, by adults,
still holding his own.
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We have a young pigeon hanging around the garden that keeps getting mobbed by adult birds. He seems to have a bit of a damaged wing and can’t fly far, however he can scuttle away fast enough to avoid capture by us humans! He gobbles up the seed dropped by other birds and I scatter some food on the ground for him when the others aren’t about so he seems to find plenty to eat. He is a survivor. He obviously finds somewhere to hide when necessary and seems to be gradually improving. Pigeons are a bit of a pest but I don’t like to see one hurt and hopefully he will soon make a full recovery.

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Sunny Intervals

In the sunny intervals
between the hailstone showers
back and forth the small birds flit,
raiding the bird feeders.

Deep Freeze

Deep freeze.
The birds empty the feeders.
I can’t break the ice on the pond.
Spring retreats, regroups.

Deposed

Who’d have thought it?
A pigeon,
king of the feeders,
deposed
by a family
of marauding starlings.

Lone Magpie

Magpie (Photo by Adrian Pingstone via Wikipedia)

A lone magpie visited my bird feeding station this morning. It brought to mind the traditional rhyme about magpies:

One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl and
Four for a boy.
Five for silver,
Six for gold and
Seven for a secret
that’s never told.

 

 

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This has been recorded as a most beautifully haunting song by The Unthanks on their ‘Mount the Air’ album.
Sorry, I can’t share the video here but check it out on YouTube.
Search ‘The Unthanks – Magpie’.

Antics

Antics at the bird feeders;
the birds display their quirks and foibles.
Domineering, bombastic, bullying pigeons
defend their claim and stand their ground.
Opportunistic sparrows, robins, blue-tits,
dart swiftly in and out, evading strife
while on the ground the blackbird ferrets,
finding food spilled by the squabbles above.

Later in the evening the hedgehog snuffles,
seeking fallen mealworms among the grass.

Posturing

Two pigeons posturing
at the feeders.
A third, incoming,
sees them off – unfed.

Oblivious

Drizzle
falls steadily.
Birds line up along the fence
waiting for the feeders
to be filled. Oblivious.
Bedraggled.