Spectacular Epic Poems 2-OTHER BIRDS

Like the birds-of-prey poems? Well, if you want to see more, give me suggestions! But here is one more that I wrote at a later date.

Peregrine

Flash! and the arrow is gone in the haze.

Then instead a Bird, a Bird in the Dusk,

A Bird in the Dusk rose up to fly away.

Rip! and the Robin is gone from its life.

Then instead rose a Spirit, a Spirit in the Glow,

A Spirit in the Glow rose up to float away.

Flash! and the arrow is gone in the haze.

Then instead a Bird, a Bird in the Dusk,

A Bird in the Dusk rose up to fly away.

 

 Like it? Good. SOOOO EPIC, innit? That was soooo chavvy. Right. These poems are about birds which aren't birds-of-prey. I will have to have another post soon which will be Excess Spectacular Epic Poems That Didn't Get To Be In The Official Spectacular Epic Poems Posts. Now, lets get on with poems.

Swift

Many men have wondered

How the Swift was granted his name.

Swift? The Swift? Who would have that name? 

Many men also do know

How the Swift was granted his name.

The Swift? The Swift?  The Swift? The Swift?

Watch and observe

This glorious bird

Then you will know why that name.

Swift as an arrow, as a lightning bolt,

Swift as a Cheetah, as a midnight bat.

Then lands on the tree-branch, not a jolt

Swift is the name and that is that.    

Blue Titmouse

Flocked as twenty

Blue, yellow, green, white.

 Flocked in the Hawthorn

Loudly heard but out of sight.

“See? See? See the hawk?”

“Fly! Fly! See the hawk?”

A flutter of wings.

A torrent of feathers.

Flown to the safety of the next tree.

But always one Blue Titmouse

Says good-bye in the claws of his greatest fear.

Capercaillie

The great male Capercaillie grouse

Struts and gurgles around the lek*.

He fans his tail and throws back his head

To crow and crow with all his might.

A real spectacle for the watching hens.

“Come, ladies, come! I am the best at the lek!”

Say the plumage and display of the cocks.

But after mating, the hens go off

To build their nests among the leaves.

The fathers never help with such,

And never even see the nest

Or the eggs

Or the chicks

So they will never know who to love.

* A "lek" is a large arena in a woodland clearing free of debris that male grouse and pheasants and also Ruffs use to display on. A place near the centre guarantees several hens. When a spectating hen has chosen a cock, she will push past the other cocks, mate with him, then go back to the undergrowth to build a nest and lay eggs. Woodcock and snipe (there are three snipe species. The Great Snipe, the Common or Middle Snipe, and the Jack Snipe) use a similar clearing to do their display-flights (roding) but it is not worn bare by feet.  

Great Titmouse

The greatest of the Parus Titmice

Black, white, yellow, green, and blue.

Sings his heart out in the Blackthorn

“I need you women, I'm singing for you!”

Agile climber, feasting on the ripe black sloes.

 Purple juice runs down his bill.

Always busy, never static.

Hopping, calling, never still.

Kingfisher

A kingfisher waits

By the side of a river

A shimmering arrow

Drawn out of its quiver

Patiently waiting

For the little fishes

For a big fat one

The little bird wishes                                                                         

That wish has come true

And under the water

Comes the big fish

The bird’s gonna slaughter

The kingfisher darts

And all is still

And comes back up with a fish in his bill! 

Nightingale

The Nightingale sings at dawn, at dusk.

At midnight, and all the way after, before.

The Nightingale sings, all when the Moon is lighting the Sky.

O, the great flare of the Moon in the Dark,

And never the flare of the Sun in the Light.

The Nightingale sings, as the silver lantern rises and all the time

Until the light will dip down.

The light will dip down.

The light will dip down.

The light will dip down, but the Spirit of the Song never will go.

The Graceful Silence of a Mute among Whoopers  

Vibrant curling notes

Winding around the tongues of the Whoopers,

Suddenly out of the open bills fly

Out – and whoooooOOP! – curl, twist and coil

Out of the bill fly to summon more for the wedge*.

But out in the middle,

Passing through like royalty,

A Mute is silently going.

The Whoopers humbly back away to clear a path.

No noise, no curling notes,

No sound comes out from this bill.

Gracefully gliding through the water, bigger and sleeker

Than any Whooper could be.

*A flock of swans is called a wedge.

Copyright Eleanor Woodcock 2011-2012 MWAHAHAHA!!! Copyrights are EPIC! (No, I don't know what that's about.) 

Like them? I'm doing a Mute Swan one next. It will be EPIC and SPECTACULAR I promise you.  I will also do one on a Gean (Wild Cherry). Yes, it isn't a bird, but I will still mention it. I put the Epic Face (I didn't make it up on the PC. Search Epic Face in Google Images if you don't believe me) again just for Epic Luck that some people will stick up comments on more birds they want me to do poems on. Oh yeah, I'm going to do a Raven (the largest Passerine or perching bird, that is with feet modified to grip a branch or other perch, in the whole world) and one on the Merlin (Britain's smallest bird-of-prey, little bigger than a Mistle Thrush.) Byee peoples! KEEP COMMENTING!!!!!!!! 

Forest of Bere

The Forest of Bere is a fantastic place for woodland birdwatching. The only disadvantage(s) are the fact that it is a perfect dog-walking place too. Because some dogs have a strong prey-drive, this can be a disadvantage to the wildlife. And even very docile dogs are likely to scare wildlife. You are a small Woodmouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) foraging for acorns among  the leaf-litter. Something shimmering catches your eye (or maybe mice aren't good with peripheral vision but it's the principle that matters) and you look up. Imagine those big forward-facing eyes. Bigger than your own face. Freaky right? I'm not saying there's anything wrong with dogs, in fact I would love a Basset Hound myself, but you get the point. Small animals freak out. Right. The other disadvantage is the amount of harvestmen (harvest spiders or harvestman-spiders) around. The Phalangiids are the worst. These are very very long-legged arachnids that look like spiders. The differences between spiders and harvestmen are:

• Spiders spin silk, harvestmen can't.
• Spiders have three body-sections, harvestmen have one.
• Spiders have eight or six eyes, harvestmen have two very rubbishy ones.
• Spiders sit still most of the time (apart from Wolf Spiders), harvestmen have a habit of touching everything including your hand (eugh!) 
• Spiders are scentless, harvestmen emit a smell when alarmed (Thankfully we humans can't detect it) .

Again, there's nothing wrong with harvestmen, it's just I'm an arachnophobe. Only with spiders, harvestmen and whip-spiders (spider-like segmented arachnids which I have never seen in the flesh) but I love scorpions. Anyway, on with the birds. There are a number of beautiful little pools and ponds full of wildlife. Hundreds of hawker dragonflies flew strongly after insects. One even caught an Emperor Moth! Many dragonfly species were present, mainly Aeshna cyanea and Aeshna grandis (Brown Hawker). The Emperor Dragonfly Anax imperator also came up a lot. Damselflies and stoneflies  and a couple of mayflies also made an appearance. The main prey for the dragonflies was daddy-long-legs (crane-flies), blow-flies  various moths and, very very thankfully, clegs. These are one of the few animals I would say are a total nuisance! Clegs, fleas, gnats and lice would rate about 1 out of 10 on the satisfaction scale, with Phalangiids and daddy-long-legs rating 2. Most spiders except the widdly weeny teeny tiny money-spiders would rate 3 etc. etc. Whirligigs  whirled, water-measurers well, measured I suppose, backswimmers and water-boatmen  and pondskaters skated. I saw loads of birds so I will just list them.

BIRDS SEEN:

Kestrel hunting voles in adjacent field and her mate (probably) ripping up a mouse
Treecreeper creeping up a tree (a Sessile Oak Quercus petraea to be technical about it)
Yellowhammer feeding
Several different flocks of Blue and Great Titmice at ponds and pools feasting on Haws (Hawthorn berries) and a Glastonbury Thorn (Double-flowering Hawthorn)
Various doves mainly Wood Pigeons (Ringdoves) pretty much everywhere
Crows and Ravens, also Rooks
WOODCOCKS!!! Oh my god it's me Woodcock in miniature with wings and a long beak!
Epic Kingfisher by the spring with a stream forming after it and going through a hole in a block of earth that acts as a bridge
Various warblers, mainly Chiffchaffs
A Little Egret and a Grey Heron
A Jackdaw
Many Nuthatches
Siskins
Other finches
House Sparrows
Grey Partridge
Dipper
Peewit (Lapwing) flying overhead
A roosting Tawny Owl
Common Pheasants
Gold and Firecrests feasting on Common Yew berries

OTHER ANIMALS:

Fallow buck  and doe
Roebuck and Roe doe (oh my god loads of deer)
Dace and Minnows
Dozens of day-flying and night-flying (that came out at dusk or seen resting by day) moth species
A very large yellow-and-black caterpillar with spines on it
Brown Trout
Red Admiral, Brimstone, Orange Tip, Large and Small White, Peacock, Clouded Yellow, Painted Lady, Comma, Small Tortoiseshell, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Small Copper and Swallowtail butterflies plus many hairstreaks
Brown Hare
Rabbits
Various bees and wasps
Staghorn Beetles

PLANTS:

English and Sessile Oaks
Scots Pines
Field Maple in field
Viper's-bugloss (oh my god it's soooo purple! Oh my god I love saying oh my god)
Norway Spruces
Common Yews and a Lutea Yew ( The Lutea Yew is a yew with yellow arils)
Several buttercups
Wood and Sun Spurge
Mistletoe
White, Yellow and Least Water-lilies     
Wood, Bloody, Meadow and Hedgerow Crane's-bill
Herb-robert
Common Stork's-bill
White and Bladder Campion
Common Bird's-foot Trefoil
Yarrow (Milfoil)
Elder
Ground-elder
Juniper
Holly
Salad Burnet
Great and Dark Mullein
Sheep's-sorrel
Bittersweet
Black Nightshade
Ivy-leaved Toadflax
Lords-and-Ladies (Wild Arum)
Devil's-bit and Field Scabious
Whatever grasses grow in the field but I know False Oat-grass and Cock's-foot  is in there
Wall Barley (oh my god Flydarts are so fun to throw!)
Wall-screw moss along the wall
Field Wood-rush
Maidenhair Spleenwort
Hart's-tongue
Male Fern
Bracken

.......Oh my god there is so many plants at that place!!!!                  

Let me get the point across.
GO THERE!!!!

Byeeeeeeeeee peoples! Have an epic time! :o):o)

PS if you don't have an epic time you are not paying attention to the epic wildlife!!!!!     






                  

Getting Started With Bird-Feeding 3

Hello, fellow birders. In Getting Started With Bird-Feeding 3, we will talk about nesting-boxes and other nesting-related things, such as what to feed in the breeding season. Although this is not feeding the birds, if you want a total bird-paradise garden backyard   It is well worth taking the time to make or spending  the money to buy a nesting-box (or a whole load of them) as the delight of having a family successfully fledged on your property is one of the most rewarding experiences in birdwatching  for both bird and man! The RSPB sells some really stylish yet functional nesting-boxes and minature wildlife cameras to go in them. As soon as I can afford one, I will be getting one! click here to access the shopping website. There are some epic feeder deals on there too! The most common type of nesting-box is the titmouse-box.

A Cheery Titmouse-box but not very serviceable

Some have multiple holes to encourage communal nesting, but the floor space is rarely big enough for more than one nest, as one typical Blue Titmouse nest is about 15 cm diameter, although there are exceptions. The RSPB sell a communal sparrow nesting-box, the Sparrow Terrace box, designed to encourage Tree Sparrows. It may still be used by one pair of birds though. You can buy metal titmouse-box hole-plates to prevent Greater Spotted Woodpeckers enlarging the hole to eat the young or eggs. Perches are not really necessary as they act as a perfect spot for House Sparrows to ambush the titmice living inside. Other specialist nesting-boxes are available from some suppliers and artificial House Martin nests are rising in popularity.

My nesting-boxes poster

You can make or buy owl chimneys which are rectangular wooden tubes closed off at one end and have a hinged roof for cleaning and inspection. They are suspended below a forty-five degree tree branch or if there is no mature trees, under a plank of wood simulating a branch. A really easy way to make an owl chimney is to just wire a size 4+ welly boot under the branch or branch-simulator, it will suffice as well. Make sure you poke drainage holes in the bottom though. Open-fronted boxes are just like titmouse-boxes with half of the front panel taken off. Spotted Flycatchers use them when tucked away in some ivy, and Robins love them anywhere. Giant ones are used by Kestrels and sometimes Collared Doves. Robins will nest in the hole left by taking a brick out of your wall or in a flowerpot, or on a shelf in the shed, or pretty much anywhere, but they really appreciate the extra protection of a nesting-box. Swift-boxes are available to fix under the eaves of the house and Swift-blocks are Swift-boxes the size of a wall brick, so you can take a brick out of the wall and replace it with a Swift-block. Always have the hole projecting into the garden so the Swift parents are bombarded with a big supply of tasty insects as soon as they leave the nest. Natural nest-sites are important too. Time to get pruning! Remember all those berry-bearing shrubs you have? The ones who provide plenty of energy in the winter? They can also be a total boon in summer! Find the growing tip of a side-shoot which is in the middle of a nice at-least-three-pronged fork of stems. Cut it out like on the poster. It's worth having your hands cut up by thorns to do this (wear gloves and your hands won't get cut up) with Firethorn (Pyracantha), Hawthorn (or Glastonbury Thorn), Buckthorn, and any other thorny shrub, as the thorns (especially of Blackthorns or plums - they are like nails!) keep predators at bay. If you find a nest already in a shrub, sod pruning and wait til next year.  Leave some unused items such as cracked flowerpots or jugs, and leaky watering-cans lying around. A Robin is sure to move in. Late is better than never with nesting-boxes. I have put up a titmouse-box as late as April before, and a family of Great Titmice moved in and were successfully fledged in the same year! Now, it's all very well creating nest-sites, but if there is not a sufficient food supply, no birds will move in. Insects and their larvae are the most important food for chicks and fledgelings. Your shrubs and trees and any other plants (if they are native) should provide good hunting ground for insects. Leave some rotting logs hanging about to attract more. Supplement this supply with meal-worms, maggots, crickets, and waxworms. You can buy mealworms, waxworms, and maggots live online from the RSPB, and dried mealworms from many places. Pet-shops sell crickets for feeding to reptiles, but these are first-rate for birds too. Mealworm feeders are available from the RSPB for hanging and on the ground. Use a high-sided dish for crickets because as we know, crickets are class at jumping! Waxworms are the larva of the Waxmoth. If you buy them from a reputable supplier (the RSPB is the best one, as for everything!) they will never pupate. Breeding your own mealworms is easy. They come with bran mixed in, so just put them in a cool dark place like a garage. Use the sack they come in, or a biscuit tin, and just top up the bran or buy a mealworm feed. They will breed on their own. Total money saver! Fat is a good substitute for "insects" as they are generally classed in shops ("live foods" is the correct term that the RSPB and other online suppliers use) as it has much the same nutritional values. It is high in protein and moisture, for chicks, and it is a good source of energy for the parent birds. You can make your own bird-cake (suet-cake or block) by following this recipe:

Take a yoghurt pot (cleaned out) and pop a hole in the bottom (only if you want to hang it up) tie a string through the hole. Melt some suet or tallow (not lard as this is greasy and will make a bird's bill sticky and render it useless, and it melts, and it is not as nutritious) on the heat, and pour it into the pot (make more than one if there is too much fat, the more the merrier!) Stir in a mixture of bird-seed mix (for once and once only, use it), stale cake crumbs, dried fruit, poppy seed (blue maw), ant's "eggs" (these are really cocoons), and chopped dried meal-worms. Leave to set then turn out onto the bird-table or hang up. Suet or tallow won't melt in the sun like lard does.

The final touch is nesting material. What use is a nesting-box without a nest? Make your bird-garden just that tiny bit better by stapling a piece of wire mesh to a fence or tree or whatever and stuffing it with pet bedding, hay, or even the hair from the dog (or fluff from Malcolm the Blue Dwarf Lop and Frances the Blue Dutch rabbits in my case.) Practically anything snuggly will do. The RSPB sells these cute little apple wool-pots and the wool to go in them. Refill them even when you think no more birds are nesting in your garden, for many birds outside of your garden may be using it too. THANKS, PEOPLES!!!! Keep commenting.