It’s not quite the right time of year for birds en masse to gather on a wire. That was last September, when birds of various kinds gathered on the telegraph wires near our house to plan their trip, perhaps to Africa, in complete defiance of current travel restrictions Here they are, in my featured photo.
And here are a few more. They’re not emigrating. I showed the stonechat quite recently, but I like him, so here he is again, looking splendid in his best spring-time feathers.
The blackbird turns his back … … as does the wood pigeon Here’s the stonechat And finally, a cormorant on the pier in Whitby, North Yorkshire.
Click on any image to view it full size.
The cormorant reminds me of a poem I learnt as a child, and which I will still recite at the least provocation:
The Common Cormorant
The Common Cormorant or shag
Lays eggs inside a paper bag.
The reason you will see no doubt
It is to keep the lightning out.
But what these unobservant birds
Have never noticed is that herds
Of wandering bears may come with buns
And steal the bags to hold the crumbs.
Christopher Isherwood
So funny, that poem! You’re full of gems 🙂 🙂 Apparently that was a stonechat on my walk yesterday. Pretty little chap! I like your cormorant shot.
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I liked that shot when I took it. Obligingly photogenic, cormorants. So you didn’t learn that poem as a child? I thought it came after Humpty Dumpty in the Child’s Lexicon of Daft Poems.
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I had a warped childhood 🙂 🙂
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Join the club.
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Me too obviously. I missed out on that poem for all these years!
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🤣
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But now you can enjoy it in all its ridiculous splendour. And then write one of your own. Hint.
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I’m writing, just not publishing!
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Your public awaits you.
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I like them all, particularly the colours of the stonechat photo – but a cormorant drying its feathers always makes for a great silhouette.
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I’ll let you into a secret. He’s a German stonechat. He lives (lived?) near Schloss Seehof near Bamberg. My cormorant was A True Brit. I think.
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Ein Wiesenschmätzer. (What a name: meadow smacker or something like that !) I’ve never seen one – so: I’m impressed.
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Oh, brilliant! But I’m afraid it had me thinking
“Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.”
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Likewise brilliant. I had to Google it to find out from whence it came. I’ve never met a drunken midnight choir. I must have led a sheltered life …
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Fortunately, I haven’t been in a drunken midnight choir, so that kind of sheltered life is fine by me!
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Ah, the wonderful Lenny. And it’s not a drunken choir, but A drunk in A choir – much like the Christmas Eve Midnight mass in Wakefield cathedral when everyone poured out of the pubs and into the church. I’m guessing there were a few drunks singing along there. Not me of course. 🙄
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Thanks for quoting that poem of which I could only remember the first two lines.
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Ah, so it’s part of your past too Susan! I’m not alone then.
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Certainly not. Thanks again.
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Love that poem! 😂 I also love these shots. I have no luck capturing birds on a wire. We have stonechats here and I’ve tried many times with no success. Your shot reminds me of warmer (drier) times to come 🙂
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Here’s hoping. Here, it’s snow rapidly becoming sleet. Hope things are on an even keel for you?
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Much better, Margaret, thank you. Life is returning to normal. A different normal (like most of us) but normality all the same. Hopefully there’ll be a post on CoC very soon 🙂
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YES! Hooray. And Six Degrees is coming up soon too.
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I love the stonechat and also your featured photo – so many birds! Thanks too for reminding me about that poem, I haven’t heard it in years! Like Sue above I was channelling Leonard Cohen 😀
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…while I was in second childhood 😉
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We tend to get crows on the wires, or sometimes starlings and also one or two chaffinches. In fact thinking about it a lot of birds on the wire, but mainly crows in abundance. You might like this post which I guess fits in with the challenge!
https://cornwallincolours.blog/2016/11/17/move-over-darling/
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I’ll say! Wot a lot. We had even more the day a starling murmuration came to the garden: https://margaret21.com/2018/03/23/snapshot-saturday-a-murmuration-of-starlings/
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They are amazing to watch. We get mini murmurations here, though there are often larger ones over by the coast.
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Wonderfully done … and great capture of the cormorant. … and then to top it off with a poem from your past that delivers a smile.
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Indeed. Natural history it ain’t 😉
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We all need smiles these days.
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On your header photo, it’s amazing that wire didn’t break. What a great photo you had. Wonderful post too. 😀
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I hadn’t thought about the weight. Good point!
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I’ve heard of power outages because of it. These must have been lighter birds.
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That is an impressive gathering of birds on the wire.
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I thought so.
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Oh I remember that gorgeous cormorant shot. I could name that as yours amongst hundreds of seaside bird pictures. Splendid.
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Oh thanks Agnes. You’ve made my day!
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Enjoyed reading your poem, Margaret. I love this bird series. The last one is a wonderful capture.
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It was a bit of a favourite with me too. Thanks.
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Poetry and birds – such a treat 😀
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Poetry might be coming on a bit strong. But it’s fun.
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Poetry can be fun 😀
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Of course!
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Missed out on that post. What a miss it was! Completely adore that first shot riddled with birds…. incredible!
And then that crazy poem. Love it – never heard of it (of course – that’s not the kind of poems you learn in school while trying to decipher the Shakespearian language!)
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I love that crazy poem, and it was probably the first one I taught my grandson
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These are fine shots! I love that cute little poem. I’ve never heard it before but we don’t have Common Cormorants here in the US. Please don’t ever think you are subpar to everyone else. We are all amateurs who just happen to love birds. I’ve shot professionally, weddings and portraits, but I don’t have pro equipment. I can’t afford that! We are just here to have fun and learn what we can from each other. You just taught me a cute little poem. And if you have nothing to say and just want to share photos of birds, that is okay with all of us as long as it fits the theme of the week. I love that the Wood Pigeon was snubbing you with his back turned. LOL! 🙂
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I have that effect on birds 😉
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LOL! 🙂
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I love the way you have captured the birds all lighted up on the cable.
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It was rather an astonishing sight. Thank you!
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I find wildlife fasinating.
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It keeps us sane at the moment, doesn’t it?
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Yep, I’ve started a weekly post on my blog called wild Wednesday . I don’t just take photographs and post them, I do a little research as to the species etc. I took some photographs of bees today. I am now researching the different kinds of bees.
We are shielding so I am trying to find ways to stay sane lol …
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I’ll pop over for a look in a minute. Shielding can get very tiresome.
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Wow, those very many birds on the wire is incredible. I wonder if there is a collective noun for so many birds on a wire? I am sure you can come up with one if not?
I also like the cormorant pic and the rather daft poem that manages to conjure up such beguiling images.
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Nope,. don’t know the collective noun, and my creative brain is in hibernation. Silly poems suit my mood.
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I know what you mean about the hibernating brain (and here it’s still summer!).
Silly perhaps but in a rather droll, wry almost surreal kind of way 🙂
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Love the cormorant Margaret 🙂 🙂
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Always good for the grand gesture, cormorants. Thanks!
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They certainly are Margaret 😀😀
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