what’s in the tree?

A sunny evening in an English country garden.
Midges swirled in patches of warm golden light in the wood.
Everything green and and peaceful.
A murder of crows took flight like a firework exploding.
Silvery wood pigeons scattered flapping in all directions.
A lone blackbird sounded his alarm call.
The hunters are out. They’re early tonight.
A warning to all.
We tiptoed out to catch the culprit.
To track down the ruthless killers.
To shoot them but not to kill.
For a photo that’s all.
High up in a tree.
Like a child hiding.
If I shut my eyes they can’t see me.

But we did see them tonight.

owls

8 thoughts on “what’s in the tree?

  1. Fabulous shot!
    I generally associate tawny owls with autumn; it seems to be when we hear them around here. I suppose they’re out and about earlier then.
    And a ‘murder of crows’, I’ve not heard that expression before but it’s rather more descriptive than a flock…!

  2. love the poem. Fabulous pics of the owls. I have nothing nesting in my (very) tall eucalyptus but plenty of birds use it as a roost, including a sparrowhawk. The heron also uses it as a look out occasionally before he tries his luck in my ponds

    1. Thanks Gina! We find that birds have habits too, often using the same tree at the same time of day. You are lucky to see Sparrowhawks… Herons are also beautiful birds but I know they upset some people with expensive fish in their ponds.

  3. Well captured. I’m hopeless at getting images of birds. We hear a Little Owl almost every evening, it uses our roof as a high point to go and return to. When it has young they are brought to the roof to wait to be fed, I’ve no idea how they are brought to the roof, it seems unlikely they are there all day, it is so hot, but I might be wrong. Thanks for sharing your encounter.

    1. Thanks Christina. To get really good shots of birds you need powerful zoom lenses and camouflage gear. Think I’ll stick to flowers!

Comments are closed.