In the garden

I've seen the new robin fledglings briefly - scurrying across the shed roof, and hopping around in the bushes.
This little one must be from the first brood. Mostly, though, I just hear them cheeping in the bushes, and making that funny kissing sound when they're being fed.

Mrs Robin enjoying a pause in the sunshine after some intensive food-foraging.

Just as well she had that sunshine earlier - not so much fun having to forage in the rain.

Young blue tit - you can see more blue coming in.

Young coal tit

Dunnock on the wall

I planted two packs of mixed  wildflower seeds a bit late, in May. I think this must be from the Californian selection, as I'm pretty sure I recognise some escholtzia foliage coming along nicely, but I'm not sure what this one is called.

On the Way to Work

Two separate mornings, just gathering a few pictures together. The swans were yesterday, in Phoenix Park. My sister was up again (a video editing software interface is no longer Terra Incognita), so I got an earlier bus than my normal one with her, and then went for a walk in the park before work.

The wall is beside Heuston Station. It's looking down onto the river, and I no longer have a good head for heights so taking a photo at all was somewhat precarious, but I loved the sight of all those daisies growing vertically (reminds me of a vertical garden we saw in Paris, only these were prettier), and the fact that because you were seeing them from underneath you could see all the pink.

A few birds...

C had an extra birthday present last week. I was working up here and heard what I was pretty sure were long-tailed tits, so I went down to see if I could see any. I saw two in the trees, but then had to come in to make dinner. As he stood and watched he saw four of them in the mahonia - he was so pleased.
He'd been talking about seeing a wren - I was never 100% sure that it wasn't a young dunnock, but look here - I'm pretty sure this is a little wren. Had to take the picture through the spare bedroom window - lucky I cleaned it recently.

This is definitely a dunnock - young and mother. The juvenile is still getting fed a bit, although he's well able to forage for himself.

Mrs. Robin in pensive mood...

Baby blue!

Cormorant

For all the many times I see a cormorant flying up the river, or swimming and diving, last week was only the second time I've seen one standing on some of the junk in the river and grooming. And the first time it was just straightforward grooming, not the wing-drying, which I've only ever seen along the cliffs.

My sister is due to stay over again this week. I'll be glad if she can give me a quick video-editing guide so that at least the program makes sense.  I like the way YouTube lets me replace a soundtrack that's pretty much just traffic noise with music, but not that it then gives you non-optional advertising...

Scavenging

The SCS challenge this week was a scavenger hunt - the objects to find were a leaf, a stone, a shell, a feather and a bottle or a can. Well - not living by a beach a shell proved problematical. I believe that it's been a bad year for slugs and snails - a good year for gardeners. (On the same note I also heard that there are fewer insects, which is why many bird feeders have seen more juvenile activity than would be usual).

It was also hard to find a stone of any interest - I nearly had to "scavenge" one from the windowsill.

Leaves afloat - note the seaweed too!

A robin's feather I found in the back porch

Snail on the wall

Not local  - I spotted this beside the tram tracks near work

Message in a bottle

It's WAY too early for the rowan trees to be turning.

I found the robin feather around the time that Scarface got his scar, so I assumed it was after a fight between him and No-tail. Sadly I haven't seen Scarface for the last week or more. Mrs Robin is feeding her brood, though. They've fledged - she's flying off in all directions with her food for them instead of always in the same direction across the garden and over the wall, and I can hear that funny little kissing noise coming from the hedge when she's feeding them. Now she is certainly managing to find insects. She had a whole beakful of something too small to identify when I got home from work today. It still didn't stop her from flying straight to the back door the instant I opened it, and trying to fit a couple of mealworms in as well.

Take Flight

Archibald MacLeish "Ars Poetica"

A poem should be palpable and mute
As a globed fruit,

Dumb
As old medallions to the thumb,

Silent as the sleeve-worn stone
Of casement ledges where the moss has grown --

A poem should be wordless
As the flight of birds.

            *     

A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs,

Leaving, as the moon releases
Twig by twig the night-entangled trees,

Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves,
Memory by memory the mind --

A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs.

            *       

A poem should be equal to
Not true.

For all the history of grief
An empty doorway and a maple leaf.

For love
The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea --

A poem should not mean
But be. 

 

 

  

 

Life in the Country

Town bird's country cousin - I know which I'd rather be!

Plus an older picture of a chick, showing just how big those feet are!!

Life as a city bird...

Taking a walk on the wild side!! I often see a moorhen or two at Heuston Station when the tide is low.

Taking Off

(This is the post I thought I made during the week, but it went AWOL. I think what happened is I originally posted it accidentally when I was copying the video link, so I quickly saved it as draft. But I think when I then posted it, it posted for the day I'd done it accidentally...another lesson learned. I could see a lot of fish in the river yesterday too, but they were on the far side to where I was walking, and as I was going to get the free paper and then to a little Polish shop for fresh yeast (they were out of it), I didn't have time to cross over and walk back).

Normally I see the cormorant either diving and swimming, or they appear in flight barrelling up the river. A rare treat to watch it taking off twice in the last few days. I spotted some big mullet in the river last week too.