Tuesday 5 November 2013

haiku and birds

frosty grass -
Greenland white fronted geese
fly in from the north

***
Over the past week or so, geese have been turning up at Musselburgh Lagoons that don't normally visit. At one point there were apparently 50 barnacle geese (though there are only 11 left now) and they have more recently been joined by about five Greenland white fronted geese.  As you can see from the maps (if you follow the links in red) these birds are well outside their normal wintering grounds. Lovely to see them. Also four snipe, which are often around the Lagoons, but very elusive. Meanwhile I got my closest ever views of the fabulously weird looking velvet scoters and spent a few minutes watching a group of six of them diving in the incoming tide. There were at least 20 of them scattered around the water just near the John Muir Walkway. Then the storm clouds began to move in rapidly from Fife and I speeded up to avoid getting caught in the downpour, but in the end the storm bypassed Musselburgh entirely.

as ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.

9 comments:

Draffin Bears said...

Hi Juliet,

I enjoyed reading your haiku and what a wonderful time it must have been seeing all those birds.
Wonderful how far some birds migrate to.
Happy week
Hugs
Carolyn

Ms Sparrow said...

You are having some great birdwatching this fall! Lucky you.

Tommaso Gervasutti said...

WILD GEESE by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-
over and over announcing your place
In the family of things.

Best wishes,
Davide

Tommaso Gervasutti said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Crafty Green Poet said...

Thanks Carolyn, yes bird migration is amazing!

Ms Sparrow - Musselburgh is particularly amazing for birds all year round!

Tommaso - lovely poem, I do enjoy Mary Oliver's poetry, thanks

Little Miss Titch said...

Nice Haiku Juliet,xx Rachel

RG said...

Must be a nice place to stop for awhile!!!

eileeninmd said...

Sounds like a great place to do some birding. I hope they stay around for you! Have a happy day!

Anonymous said...

love the haiku :)