Photo-a-Day  (Tuesday, 15th May, 2012)

Brilliant subject William, female blackbird more brown than black. It,s got a lot of material to go at there.

Nice photo, it looks like the bird is taking your stuffing, its going to feather its own nest somewhere.

Ok folks we had good run only 3 birds in 7 weeks and one of those was that cute swan walking down the street. Well done Brian

William, was the bird building a nesk in your hanging basket or stealing from it?

Ah! Well, it had to happen.

Great photo William but Ernest is not going to be happy!

It`s not very black, William.
Two blackbirds are nesting inside a large bush in my back garden.
They were singing when I started mowing yesterday. One of them, male?
came and followed me whilst mowing - most unusual. It`s common for a robin to be friendly but not a blackbird.
Here`s a poem specially for Janice and Tricia:-
A Blackbird's Nest
She sits upon her nest all day,
Secure amid the toiling din
Of serpent belts that coil and play,
And, moaning, ever twist and spin.

What cares she for the noise and whirr
Of clanking hammers sounding near?
A mother's heart has lifted her
Beyond a single touch of fear.

Beneath her, throbbing anvils shout,
And lift their voice with ringing peal,
While engines groan and toss about
Their tentacles of gleaming steel.

Around her, plates of metal, smote
And beat upon by clutch and strain,
Take shape beneath the grasp of thought--
The mute Napoleon of the brain.

She careth in nowise for this,
But, as an anxious mother should,
Dreams of a certain coming bliss--
The rearing of her callow brood.

Thou little rebel, thus to fly
The summer shadows of the trees,
The sunlight of the gracious sky,
The tender toying of the breeze.

What made thee leave thy leafy home,
The deep hid shelter of the tree,
The sounds of wind and stream, and come
To where all sounds are strange to thee?

Thou wilt not answer anything;
Thy thoughts from these are far away;
Five little globes beneath thy wing,
Are all thou thinkest on to-day.

Ernest you are a treasure - I like poetry and this is lovely.

Male blackbirds are black, females are brown often with spots and streaks on their breasts. Are you listening Ernest? questions will be asked later, lol.

love the chain links on the hanging basket. they really divert ones attention from the subject matter. "oh hello" going back to birds again ? this could of been taken in st helens for all we know.

I have, for the second year running, got two ring-necked doves nesting on my satallite dish. It facinates me how two birds with just a beak each can build a cosy home out of twigs.

That is lovely , Ernest, thank you.
I love poetry as well , Janice.. I think Ellen does as well.
The Swifts and Swallows came back here a few weeks ago , Ernest ,and were joined by the Bee-eaters shortly afterwards.

Thanks Janice and tricia - you`ve made my day ! tricia, did you manage to listen to `The Village Schoolmaster`? - comments 30th April.
Roy, point taken and Google agrees !!

Good subject nest building, the resident blackbirds take the dried sphagnum moss from my hanging baskets. Nice pic.

Tricia! BEE-EATERS? Where do you live, Africa? WE don't get bee-eaters round here, I'm on my way with my binoculars!

i saw a white fronted _bee eater in arley wood the other day , at first i thought it was a kingfisher, so maybe their on the way back. well spotted tricia.

philra, refer Wikipedia for Bee-eater and Bee-eaters in Britain.

Twitter, philra.. and Ernest, sorry to disappoint you but I live in South East Spain, in a very rural location. I will probably get told I am not entitled to comment on here now But I am a Wiganer through and through!!!! And always will be.We also see a lot of woodpeckers (ringed) and some beautiful black/white/ blue-throated birds I am told are housemartins... also kingfishers, lots of owls and a large eagle has an eyrie up near a protected Moorish tower. Kind regards
T

I really do love poetry,Janice; and I love (dare I say it?)bird pictures!!

...Oh, this is meant for Tricia as well!

..and thanks for the picture goes to William