March Morning
In the willow tree
Under a Van Gogh sky a
Robin paints in song
Goldfinches
Five feisty finches
Fill the golden willow boughs
With red hot trouble!
Powder puffs, dusted
Gold in the golden sunlight
Catkin and goldfinch
On the Spring Equinox
Now the day rises
Green leaves unfurl to greet her
And birds sing her name
Magpie
Four magpies fighting
In the road, oblivious
To me passing by
Magpie finds long stick
Jackdaw wants it, sky scuffle!
Fight, flight, Magpie wins
Robin
In the blackthorn boughs
Robin; red lantern on branch
Among the blossom
Goldfinch
Goldfinches riff free
Jazz. Syncopated beats on
Bare willow branches
Marsh Harrier
Gold wings in late sun
Struck from Thor’s hammer, bright streak
Of talons and beak
Starling Murmuration
Front row gathering
We wait for the performance
A winter ballet
Sky whale! Sky whale! Swan!
Starlings flow shapes across sky
Nature’s movie show
Find more of my birdwatching haiku here:
This morning the starling flock flew out at dawn in minus six degrees centigrade, as they flew overhead, due to the thousands of birds passing, I was able to notice a pattern within the larger grid of the flock.
Starling DRS haiku:
(You can find more of my birdwatching haiku in print and as a eBook on Amazon here.)
October sees the return of the huge flocks of starlings to Somerset and I am very lucky to be able to watch these extraordinary little birds locally. They are an endless source of entertainment and inspiration and they definitely brighten up those grey winter days with their rowdy antics.
I’ve posted before about my bird haiku book, available here, and during the year I keep writing about the birds I spot, an ongoing project for me. For the last few weeks the starlings have been gathering on the lines in our road, reminding me of that Hitchcock movie classic ‘The Birds’, very appropriate for this week!
Wishing you a Happy Diwali, Halloween, Samhain and Allhallowstide at this turning point of the year.
Starlings
This morning’s laundry
Already flapping in breeze
Starlings on a line
In the grey rain-light
A steady drizzle of wings
Storm clouds of starlings
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