Birdsong

Birdsong always stops me in my tracks. I will take time to listen, wonder and very often video , just the sound. For birdsong is a dwindling sound , I find these days. My home and surroundings do not entice song birds to linger. Occasionally a flock of goldfinches will gather on the telegraph poles or television aerials. I will hear them, stop to listen, marvel at their song.

Of course other birds 'sing', but perhaps we don't regard those songs as melodious. The song carries a message, a means of attracting the attention of a mate, to warn of predators, to tell of a food source...that sort of communication.

I do wish I could identify the perpetrator of the song. I might recognise a robin call, a wren, a blackbird, a starling ...but all woefully inadequate when I am bombarded by a cacophony of songs

Thank goodness for outdoor spaces, parks, wildlife parks, sanctuaries and the like ...places to spend time and listen...just listen. Observe, be vigilant. Open our ears to the small sounds, the joyful sounds of birdsong.

I have quite a few poems featuring birds and birdsong , so I've chosen this piece written in June 2017 at Caerlaverock. Laverock is the name given to a lark....

LAVEROCK

Laverock, gentle singer of songs
Flying ever higher and higher'
Carrying a melody to the heavens.
A moments silence before you fall --
Fall--fall--Spiralling towards the earth.
Lungs full of notes, cascading like a waterfall,
Scattering lyrics over the earth below.
Laverock, gentle singer of songs.

Thank you so much for reading....Kath