Sparrow Hawk

Sparrow hawk
in a shady corner 
of my garden, feasting
on a male blackbird.
Nothing left but feathers.
No wastage - Nature's efficiency.

Feathers

Buds appearing on the trees.
Sparrow with a beak full
of soft downy feathers
to line his nest.

Feathers

Sparrow flutters in the tree,
cherry blossom petals
float down like feathers.

Ruffled Feathers

Usually immaculate pigeon,
breast feathers ruffled
like a scarf.

Wings

Preening and fluffing
their feathers,
stretching alternate wings
into the rain;
pigeons on the fence
taking a shower.

Bedraggled

Yesterday bedraggled pigeons
visited the feeders.
Today they come,
feathers fluffed and dried
in the sun.

Return

Pigeon feathers all over the lawn.
I wonder, did the kestrel return?

Crime Scene

This sunny morn,
a pile of pigeon feathers on the lawn.
No corpse, no other sign
to indicate the culprit of this crime.

Collision

Helplessly I watch as bird and car collide.
In a fluster of falling feathers the pigeon flies away.
Amazingly, as far as I could see
there was no other sign of injury.