The Birds of Britain
(Attempting a haiku for every bird.)
A
|
Avocet
With your
delicate
Up-turned bill - you sift through the
Estuary
mud.
|
|
|
B
|
Barn Owl
You are
quartering
The moonlit meadow - a ghost
With white,
silent wings.
|
Bearded Tit
From the depths of the
Reed-bed comes your insistent
Metallic ching, ching.
|
Bittern
Skulking
deep in the
Heart of the reed-bed; heard but
Seldom
seen: boom, boom.
|
Blackbird
You are
guardian
Of the garden - patrolling
The shrubs
and bushes.
|
Blue Tit
You hang upside down
On the bird feeder - pecking
At the red peanuts.
|
Buzzard
High above
the wood
On today's warm air currents -
You circle and
glide.
|
C
|
Chaffinch
Ubiquitous
finch:
With your 'cheerful-chappie' pink
And flashing
wing-bars.
|
Chiffchaff
You are
iconic:
Onamatopoeic bird
Of returning spring.
|
Chough
Red-legged, red-billed; high
Above Cornish cliffs
among
The gulls and jackdaws.
|
Cormorant
Oily,
sinister
Snake-bird - resurfacing with
A beak full of
fish.
|
Crow
You are the blackest
Of birds: black beak, black
feathers;
Black eyes, black icon.
|
Cuckoo
You are the
villain
Of the piece - laying your egg
In other
bird's nests.
|
Curlew
It is
dusk on the
Mudflats; your melancholy
Call hangs in
the air.
|
|
|
D
|
Dartford Warbler
From the tip of the
Yellow flowering gorse - you
Sing your churring song.
|
Dipper
You are the
river's
Electric current - buzzing
Over the wet
rocks.
|
Dunnock
You are the
bird in
The bush - inconspicuous
And unforthcoming.
|
F
|
Firecrest
In the
half-darkness
Of the fir branches - your head
Is
a tiny flame.
|
Fulmar
Close to the cliff you
Circle on straight, unbending
Shallow-beating wings.
|
G
|
Gadwall (Male)
Not
just any grey
But a dappled, shimmering
Merging,
zig-zag grey.
|
Gannet
Launched
from above, you
Are a fish missile: pointed;
Streamlined; targeted.
|
Goldcrest
In the
fir tree you
Flicker and fidget; your striped
Orange
crest flashing.
|
Golden Oriole (Male)
Unmistakable:
That bright yellow head - flicking
Along the hedgerow.
|
Goldfinch
Crossing the winter
Field - a red and yellow flock
Twittering sweetly.
|
Great Tit
At the bird feeder
You are a bully - driving
Off
the other tits.
|
Great White Egret
Vision of whiteness
Against the brown reeds and the
Brown Broadland water.
|
Green Woodpecker
In the open you
Dip and rise: on rotten tree stumps
You scurry upwards.
|
Grey Wagtail
You
flit along the
River's edge - a fluttering
Airy,
spirit bird.
|
H
|
Hawfinch
You are a
bruiser:
A bull-necked, cracker of seeds;
Not
to be messed with.
|
Heron
Silent sentinel,
Stock-still at the river's edge;
Fish-aware; alert.
|
Herring Gull
You are
the phantoms
Of the landfill: scavenging;
Bickering,
shrieking.
|
Hooded Crow
In your natty grey
Waistcoat - you scour the fields
for
The dead and dying.
|
House Sparrow
Once
you were common:
Chirping and cheeping over
Rooftops
and gardens.
|
J
|
Jack
Snipe
You vanish into
The reed litter - a skulking
Mottled brown spectre.
|
Jay
You are the
raucous
Acorn buryer: the white
Flash in the woodands.
|
K
|
Kingfisher
Electric blue shock
Flying at full pelt; parting
The ordinary.
|
L
|
Long Tailed Tit
The
bumbarrels are
Coming - flipping and flicking
Through the low branches.
|
M
|
Magpie
You flutter
over
The rooftops - a shimmering
Black and white omen.
|
Mallard (Male)
The
green of your head
Is a phosphorescent green:
Shimmering and chic.
|
Marsh Harrier
Above the reed-bed
You perform your manoeuvres
Wheeling and tilting.
|
Marsh Tit
Am I a
Marsh Tit
Or a Willow Tit? You can
Tell by my black
cap.
|
N
|
Nightjar
By
night a flying
Ghost; by day invisible
Among the
bracken.
|
P
|
Peregrine Falcon
Folding back your wings
You stoop - freefalling at two
Hundred miles an hour.
|
Pheasant
The beaters
flush you
Out and you clatter upwards
Towards waiting
guns.
|
Puffin
You are
clownish and
Endearing - waddling with a
Beak
full of sand eels.
|
R
|
Raven
Above the
gorge you
Float like a large crow - black-cloaked,
Black-throated, croaking.
|
Red-Backed Shrike
You are the hook-beaked,
Harsh-toned hunter - looking to
Restock your larder.
|
Red-Legged Partridge
When startled you duck -
Lean forward and scuttle off
Over the bare field.
|
Redwing
Above the
frozen
Winter fields - a flock flickers -
Landing
sudddenly.
|
Ring Necked Parakeet
You are exotic:
A light green, red-beaked,
long-tailed
Raucous escapee.
|
Robin
The gardener's
friend;
Christmas card cliche; hopping
Red-breasted
singer.
|
S
|
Skylark
Listen
to the song:
Liquid crystal outpouring
High above the
field.
|
Starling
The
swirling, tilting
Murmuration settles at
Last under
the pier.
|
Swan
You begin
the long
Take-off; your huge wings beating
Against the
water.
|
Swift
You bring the
summer
With you - heading northwards on
A wave of warm
air.
|
T
|
Teal
Male: phosphorescent
Chestnut-green head. Female:
brown
With a green wing fleck.
|
Treecreeper
Your universe is
This tree trunk where you shuttle
Upwards and downwards.
|
W
|
Water Rail
You
appear briefly -
Scurrying across the fen
On your
long, splayed feet.
|
Waxwing
You
come for berries:
The rowan and the hawthorn
And the
mistletoe.
|
Willow Tit
Am I a
Willow
Tit or a Marsh Tit? You can
Tell by my dull
crown.
|
Wood Pigeon
You clatter into
The air - a plump, greedy bird
Circling and cooing.
|
Wren
Ferocious mini
Bird: your pin-sharp beak ready;
Your stub tail erect.
|
Y
|
Yellow
Hammer
A little bit of
Bread and no
cheese: a little
Bit of bread and no....
|
Supported
by Norfolk Tourism