That’s right there are no wildlife programmes at all on terrestrial TV next week!
Since I guess that I can’t get away with Plan C again I’ll have to go to Plan D!
My last Plot 124 entry Rain stopped play! was almost two weeks ago since when I’ve done very little as I’ve either been working or the weather has continued to be unsettled. I had hoped to do something today but the combination of the ground still being too sticky and the weather has put paid to that idea. I hope to do something tomorrow and Sunday, and will then do an entry.
Here’s a poem about a bird that I nearly always see when I go to the plot. On Sunday I saw it go under the patio by the shed, which I’ve seen it do before, and I wonder if there’s a nest there. If there is it’ll be difficult to see probably tucked away in the corner but I’ll have a look and let you know.
My Little Friend by Brian H.Gent
When I take out my rake and hoe,
My little friend just seems to know,
Some tasty morsals I’ll provide
As soon as I start work outside.
He watches me without a sound,
Perched on my spade stuck in the ground,
Small wonder that our spirits soar,
Such is our simple sweet rapport.
With red bib shining in the sun,
A special magic spell is spun,
We work together side by side,
From morning till the eventide.
No truer friendship could be stirred,
Than this between a man and bird.
The next Frog Ponderings entry should be on Saturday morning as usual.
Have a good weekend !
26 responses so far ↓
daffy // April 24, 2008 at 9:06 am
Ahh the Audacious Robin! Of course! They are quite brave in comparison to other birds aren’t they. Allowing you do all the work, digging and turning the soil and then they just saunter down to pick up a juicy worm! Very enterprising!
.
A Bird
A bird came down the walk,
He did not know I saw;
He bit an angleworm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw.
And then he drank a dew
From a convenient grass,
And then hopped sidewise to the wall
To let a beetle pass.
by Emily Dickinson
Hope your weekend is good. The South is due to get the best of the weather and the higher temperatures ( and a shower or two!) so it should make it Plot-ably compatible!
Flighty // April 24, 2008 at 9:15 am
Daffy I always feel disappointed if I don’t see it when I’m there as it really is such a companionable bird.
That’s a nice poem from a good poet!
Thanks, you too! Fingers crossed that it’s not too bad for any of us. xx
Tina // April 24, 2008 at 10:35 am
Hey, Flighty.
We seem to be working on opposite weather lately, and since we’re going to be stepping back into the crap pretty soon, that’ll mean you’ll have nice stuff coming! Fingers crossed.
I have to admit - this has been the best stretch of April weather I have ever seen in my life.
I wonder what May will bring for you?
Flighty // April 24, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Tina hello! It certainly seems that way! Fingers are indeed crossed.
I seem to recollect that last year we had a good April then lots of rain so perhaps this year it’ll be the other way round. xx
purplephreak // April 24, 2008 at 1:22 pm
I like that poem
This is my favorite poem about a bird, I studied it at school and always have a copy of it in the house somewhere:
The Windhover.
I caught this morning morning’s minion, king-
dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird,—the achieve of; the mastery of the thing!
Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!
No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermillion.
Flighty // April 24, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Purplephreak hello! At long last your comments are appearing directly on the entry!
I’m not surprised that it’s one of your favourite poems. It was written by Gerald Manley Hopkins (1844-89, b.England) who usually started it with the line…To Christ Our Lord.
He was a priest who struggled to reconcile his acute sense of God’s hand in nature with the religious doctrine that the natural world is fallen. A soaring windhover (kestrel) resembles Christ on the cross. Hopkins marvels at the bird’s mastery of the air , but finds it is the moment when the wind overcomes the bird that is the most magnificent. Earth is most beautiful when broken by the plough, and embers when they disintegrate. For Hopkins, nature is reflecting the glory of Christ’s death.
Many thanks for quoting the poem here! xx
nikkipolani // April 24, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Hey, you’d think it was national poetry day or something
I think Plan D is working out brilliantly, Flighty. Though I did hear on the radio the other day that Disney plans to make some nature movies to be released in theatres in the coming years. There was one fellow interviewed who had been taking time-lapsed photography of flowers for the last 30 years and his project idea was snapped up. So I’m looking forward to these movies getting made!
cafecortado // April 24, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Hi, the forecast is now for warm sunny weather over the weekend. So, if you can ‘t get anything done tomorrow I’m sure you’ll be able to do so on Sunday. Have a productive weekend!
Flighty // April 24, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Nikki we do like our poetry don’t we! Plan D was of course to include a poem.
The Disney plans sound interesting. Do let me know if you hear more. xx
Flighty // April 24, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Cafecortado so I see! I hope to do quite a lot tomorrow and Sunday as I won’t be able to during next week. Thanks, you too. Cheers!
mylozmom // April 24, 2008 at 6:11 pm
okay, I’m curious to know where you find all these lovely poems?
Flighty // April 24, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Mylozmom I’ve got a few poetry books such as Great Poems which has over 300 favourite poems. I look at the poetry books in the bookshop and there are loads of websites! Mind you finding the right lovely poem is another matter! xx
mylozmom // April 24, 2008 at 6:26 pm
well I think you do a fantastic job of picking JUST the right one!
Flighty // April 24, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Mylozmom thanks, that’s nice of you to say so! xx
Louise // April 24, 2008 at 7:26 pm
This is why I get out in the garden even in the depths of winter, the robin is such a faithful friend who will follow your every move, I just love them. I have many plans for work in my garden over the weekend too, weather pending? We have had such a mixed bag lately. x
Flighty // April 24, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Louise sadly I didn’t see any birds on the plot today. I guess they were all having an after lunch siesta!
Fingers crossed for the weekend. You’re so right about the unsettled weather. xx
Glo // April 24, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Enjoyed the lovely robin poem ~ and those poems following. Our robins aren’t quite as cute, I don’t think, and are of a larger variety, Apparently yours and ours aren’t that closely related. I read somewhere that the robin appearing in Mary Poppins was “one of ours” by mistake.
My memory of English robins, is the wonder of finding robin nests in laurel hedges and seeing those spectacular little blue eggs…
Many robins hop around my garden…and one even landed on me once when I was resting on a lounge on the deck…I don’t which of one of us was more surprised when I jumped.
According to myth: The robin, in particular, is revered in most cultures as a compassionate, fun-loving, and fortuitous bird.
Flighty // April 24, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Glo thanks! It’s good when people quote other poems like that.
I think that you’re right, and they’re not related. The eggs are a wonderful colour.
I’m not surprised that you both were!
Amazing how myths abound for a small red-breasted bird. xx
gemmak // April 25, 2008 at 12:12 am
‘Plan C’ always works for me ;o)
Flighty // April 25, 2008 at 6:21 am
Gemmak hello! It does for me too! xx
Mas // April 25, 2008 at 10:48 am
(I seem to always be bringing up the rear with comments lately - does anyone have a “pause” button for my life? ) I love the poems everyone’s added into the comments, as well as your original one; there’s something about the birds we see - I love that there are so many around. (after talking with daffy the other week about wood pigeons, I’ve noticed that a bunch seem to have taken up residence on the window ledge of the house opposite) The robins though always seem to be the cheekiest - just running/flying out of shout when I point the camera at them
I didn’t realise there weren’t any wildlife programmes on next week; the various nature shows (even if they are repeats) seem to be the majority of what I manage to catch on the telly.. hmm…
this weekend I’m planning to sort out my back yard again; I did plant some radishes a few weeks back and it looks like somethings are coming up - although - the topsy-turvey weather we’ve had just lately; I’m not entirely sure what to expect. Hopefully we’re heading into sun and rain and out of snow and hail; I’d like to get some peas grown this year - I’ve tried on and off but haven’t really had much of a success since my childhood. Anyway, I’m noticing I’m more than a little bit rambling on here
have a great day, and a grand weekend
take care there
M
carolyn // April 25, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Looking forward to the return of Spring Watch, last year my youngest wanted to stay up each night for the Night Watch. We became very fond of barn owls and a little barn owl hissing is now all it takes to get me to sleep. One of our cats, Jasper, couldn’t work out where it was all coming from and kept trying to look behind the TV - hilarious!
Flighty // April 25, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Mas hello! Elsewhere you’d be called a ‘tail-end charlie’ ! It’s good when people comment like that as it really does add to the original entry. We seem to like birds and poetry so I suppose that it’s not surprising.
With no wildlife programmes it’s a bit of a TV non-week as far as I’m concerned.
I’ve going to try peas as well.
Please ramble away as it’s always good to read your comments.
Many thanks, you too! Cheers!
Flighty // April 25, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Carolyn hello and welcome! I think we’ll have to wait until the end of May for Spring Watch. It seems a long time coming this year. I resisted Night Watch but caught up with events on the PC every morning!
I haven’t heard, or seen, an owl in the wild for years which is a shame as they’re among my favourite birds.
I can quite believe your cat doing that!
Take care and have a good weekend. xx
Mas // April 25, 2008 at 9:22 pm
I kind of like the idea of being a “tail-end Charlie” - it has a certain ring to it
Seeing you mention owls - reminded me - quite often at the weekend, the town market has a stall from the local bird sanctuary and often have owls sitting on hand. There is something about owls (and I always loved Wol in Winnie the Pooh
) I didn’t catch the Night Watch either - but I often would check the webcams during the day.
(oh - Caroyln - I have a pet finch here and sometimes he goes nuts when certain wildlife shows are on - just from hearing the noises - I think one recently with snakes (life in cold blood?) in had him in a right flap! (I ended up having to turn the sound off and watch with subtitles so as to not stress him out!)
Good luck with the peas - take care there
M
Flighty // April 27, 2008 at 8:26 am
Mas thanks again! I hope that you’re having a good weekend. Cheers!
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