A skein of autumn geese
Flock formed across the watery sky
In silhouette against the rising sun
Punctuating the moist, cool, morning air
With honked calling on downbeat of wing
Migrating in from distant shores
English: Skein of geese over morning mist A loose formation honking loudly on their way to nearby lakes. The mist lingers in the valley. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The promise is an owl, they said
A bird of prey that could
Save each and every one for sure
And get them out the wood
Yet give each wisdom, give them flight
With wings to be so free
Nocturnal sight through darker times
And there you might just see
A bird that would surpass the hoot
That flapped all red and blue
An owl for everyone, they said
Rhetoric or tweettwoo?
Eastern Screech Owl (Photo credit: Vicki’s Nature)
They gather in their thousands
In flocks that caw and screech
All white and territorial
They sit right near the beach
And shout to one another
Yell, as some would say
And mooch around the reservoir
In avian display!
Birds of a Feather? (Photo credit: Don McCullough)
I might be a little quackers
For sure mi duck you’ll see
That quacking I do ain’t so mad
But more for rivalry
To capture his attention
The drake that’s in the pack
To flirt, attract and get my man
Ey up mi duck! Quack! Quack!
FYI: “Ey up mi duck” is a colloquialism for “Hello” from the East Midlands region of England. Funnily enough it’s nothing to do with wildfowl but actually takes it’s origins from the Saxon word “ducas” which was meant as a term of respect akin to the word for leader “duc” which later became “duke”. From this it therefore became a greeting before it became a term of endearment!
Did you know that it’s only the female duck that “quacks”.
And so today is DABday
A day that’s sure to fly
A day that’s there to spread much joy
To all birds glorify
And all that’s needed is a pad
Of paper and a pen
To draw all sorts of different birds
Perhaps even a hen
So get artistic and then share
Your work however small
On social networks all worldwide
To bring some joy to all
Today is “Draw a Bird Day” Want to find out more? Click here!
I saw a bird this morning with
A twig held in his beak
A twig to make a nest with and
A home for him to seek
And as I watched this little bird
I thought a short while
How complicated life is now
Not easy – quite a trial
For once upon a time we all were
The bird complete with sticks
To make our homes quite simply with
No hassle and no tricks
No red-tape, or conscription
No strain to get us stressed
Just sticks all put together to
Construct our home and nest
So does this not beg the question
Just how much we have gained
From the multitude of systems
We’ve written and maintained
Does it not make us think about
The process we’ve enrolled
To build our basic shelters that
Protect us from the cold
For surely life’s more difficult
Than it needs to be
When bird’s all seem to get on fine
Without bureaucracy!
English: A bird nest in Bangladesh (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
How know you that the dodo lived
That bird now gone from earth
That strutted fields and foreign realms
And of Mauritian birth
The bird that now is so extinct
It will not tweet anew
That walked so free in time gone by
Now disappeared from view
And yet that lesson still not learnt
As animals demise
From weaponry of human greed
Consumed before our eyes
So save this ball on that we spin
Through space and galaxies
Safeguarding all endangered lives
Protect all rare species
For let our children not grow old
To only recollect
From books the pictures of wildlife
They’ll otherwise forget
And steadfastly let creeds be drawn
Save beasts to roam so free
To walk the world for we must learn
The Dodo’s legacy
Dodo reconstruction (Raphus cucullatus) reflecting new research at Oxford University Museum of Natural History (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Today we reach the culmination of the Twelve Days of Christmas with the arrival of the twelve drummers drumming. It’s been a crazy few days but we hope you’ve enjoyed meeting Partridge, his merry party and the little hidden moral that negativity can sometimes freeze us to the spot and inhibit full enjoyment of life, whereby an open heart will help move us on in life to open opportunities gateway! The full poem is available here
But safe to say, all is not lost
As one by one returns
The turtle doves and three French Hens
And calling birds in turns
Arrive with swans and geese and maids
Together with the rest
To party with the Partridge now
With fun that is so blessed
And in their turn the drummers come
A drumming on their way
To wish all there a great new year
With greetings every day
Day Eleven and nearly at the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas, Partridge’s behaviour is challenged. To read the full poem click here
And with a sigh he bows his head
To breath in peace and calm
But in a second silence breaks
The distant piper’s charm
For bagpipes playing noisily
With customary skirl
Comes through the ether to his ears
Beset him as a churl
“Clear off – I said,” he shouts at them
“I’m done in can’t you see”
“My feet are froze, my wings are clipped
I’m stuck here in this tree”
“Oh don’t be like that Partridge,” says
The Pipers piping through
“You far too frosty for your good
Just stop and look at you”
“Now Partridge stop and find your charm
Warm up and find your smile
And see you’re not quite so affixed
To tree across the mile”
And with some swag of Partridge wild
He grimaces to try
To see if he can budge himself
And come down from on high
And strangely, with a shiver first
He finds that he can move
And lands in garden by pipers pipe
The Partridge quite improved
“Oh my,” he says, “I feel a fool
For shouting at each one
For now I want to party more
Until this day is done”
Day Nine in our Twelve Part meander through the Twelve Days of Christmas. Partridge is really fed up now – he’s no party creature and isn’t impressed! But who turns up next to jolly antics in “his” garden? For the whole poem click here
Then with aghast he looks again
And there he thinks he spies
Some ladies who have come to join
The party in disguise
For in their heads are feathers and
Some masks across their face
The ladies who are dancing too
With birds – what a disgrace!
They dance about the garden and
The patio it’s true
Some dressed in pink and some in red
And other’s draped in blue
They practice all the party tunes
And sing out loud as well
The ladies dancing happily
For all think this is swell
A Christmas party picking up
That’s going with a swing
There’s quite a crowd of fowl and fair
That’s really quite startling
But who should care just what they do
For all are having fun
Well all except the old partridge
Who thinks his days are done
Ginz&Tonic 