Sparrow Hawk

Cherry

By D G Moody

Tue, 23 Jan 2024
  • 1369 reads
17 comments
 

Gazing out on our hibernating garden;

Cold and bleak, here they come to feed:

Robins, Finches, Wrens, Tits, Blackbirds,

Arriving each day to feed on the seeds

From the feeders, we have gladly put out;

Then fluffing their wings in the bird bath,

Such antics always causing us to laugh,

Warm with coffee behind our plate glass.



Oblivious to the sharp descending talons,

A shadow suddenly swooping down

Scattering all the smaller birds asunder

Alighting on the fence to gaze around,

With his guileless gimlet eyes, he looked

So Imperious, it took my breath away,

Held suspended that he might bide awhile,

Though as not to prey on the other birds.



Then I thought I ought to shoo him away,

But as I raised my hand our eyes locked,

His, as if to say ‘who’s now the hunter

And who’s the prey, because I kill to live,

In nature the only morality is necessity.’

That was enough for this magnificent bird,

He’d decided he had outstayed his stay,

Fast like the wind he flew into the grey.



© D G Moody 2024

Certificate U
Poem
Nature Poems
Nature

Comments

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

I always know if a hawk's been in my garden because it's deathly quiet - all the little birds in hiding or flown away. They are quite shocking when they swoop in aren't they? Thanks for this poem Dougie - you've captured a moment in time

 

Submitted by D G Moody on

Thanks Claudine, and the Cherries are much appreciated. My wife has feeders all over the garden, so we get to enjoy watching them - and yes, when they all  disappear we know something is about.

Dougie Moody

Submitted by Turlough on

The food chain or the evolutionary ladder? However we look at it, we're all part of it.

I was bitten by a spider last night and the itching is driving me mad.

An extremely good poem and an enjoyable read.

Turlough

Submitted by D G Moody on

Yes, all part of Nature, and the line - 'in nature there is only necessity' stops us imposing our own anthropomorphic view onto the natural world. I was sorry to hear about the spider bite, have you tried an antihistamine?

Dougie Moody

Submitted by Turlough on

Thanks Dougie. I'll live. I rubbed a crushed garlic clove on it (the finger, not the spider) and it's grand now. 

Turlough

Submitted by Starfish Girl on

Nice one, so well described.

I know they only visit to eat the smaller birds but they are quite magnificent.

Lindy

Submitted by D G Moody on

Thank you Lindy; and yes they are amazing - they can outfly most other birds when hunting low.

Dougie Moody

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hi Dougie,

Your poem explains exactly what happened in our garden some years back. Birds were splashing around in the bird bath when this Hawk flew down, but this one managed to take a pigeon. It all happened so quickly I never had time to run out the back door to try and save the poor bird and it already had the pigeon in its talons. I couldn't watch anymore as the Hawk flew away still holding the bird.

I think you put this poem together really well and described the scene perfectly.

Jenny.

 

 

Submitted by D G Moody on

Snap Jenny! We watched (another time) a Kite on our back lawn eating a freshly killed pidgeon.

Dougie Moody

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

You've caught and described the moment so vividly. thank you! I liked the 'hibernating garden' too! Rhiannon

 

Submitted by D G Moody on

Thank you Rhiannon. It's sometimes hard to imagine when Spring will surge and new life will bloom, but it does - thanks be!

Dougie Moody

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Really liked

"A shadow suddenly swooping down

Scattering all the smaller birds asunder

Alighting on the fence to gaze around,

With his guileless gimlet eyes, he looked

So Imperious"

Whoever catches our pigeons every now and then is smaller than they are,so must be a different kind of bird to yours, but the sense of honed power you describe brilliantly, is the same! Enjoyed your poem very much

 

Submitted by D G Moody on

Thank you Di. We are blessed with our bird life. My wife and I this morning while on our walk watched transfixed as two Woodpeckers swooped through the bare branches of trees. I would say that these were the Great Spotted type.

Dougie Moody

Submitted by Di_Hard on

wow! I think I have only seen one woodpecker a few times here, but never two!!! Where you live sounds amazing :0)

 

Submitted by D G Moody on

It was the first time for us, that we'd seen a pair together; and what amazed us was how fast and low they flew around us in the trees - like aerial acrobats, pretty close to swifts and swallow. 

Dougie Moody

Submitted by marandina on

"... guiless gimlet eyes.."

 

That’s an evocative poem that captures a time and place so beautifully. Fine work, Dougie. Paul 

 

Submitted by D G Moody on

Thank you Paul. We've had a large murmuration of Starlings this year, and the Sparrow Hawks join in by dive bombing through the murmuration to catch a meal; that maybe why we saw one at home - normally a rare sight.

Dougie Moody