when was now (23/1/23)

a-side

grey the day begins in colours flayed of colour… and bird of the day?… I thought you’d never ask, well it has to be the owl, a tawny owl to be more precise, whose hoots infiltrated the kitchen’s open window as I dutifully stirred my breakfast porridge in my dedicated porridge pan on the hob, a hob dedicated to food cooking anything my tummy desires, as and when, and when was now… was now?… a curious thought… and when was now while the morning was still dark, hence the owl, and hence quoth the owl and it quothed away, his disembodied calls, voice, vocal as he is much more during the winter than at any other time of the year, and I’ve no doubt other birds hear it too but keep their own counsel, wrapping their feathers around them even closer, it’s not quite yet their time as they nervously wait for just a little more light… yesterday also had a bird of the day, in fact every day has a bird of the day really, many being regulars to this personal accolade of mine like the wren or robin or song thrush, great spotted woodpecker and the ubiquitous blackbird of course, but sometimes long-tailed tits, redwings, fieldfares, goldcrest, even buzzard, all of whom visit my garden, as does the owl, being one of the conditions of currently being one of my birds of the day, but yesterday’s had to be the one I spotted hovering above the trunk road as I drove past, I knew right then nothing I would see the rest of the day would top it, it being the Red Kite… yes, a red kite!… to non-birders, whose total lack of interest in birds simply baffles me, or to perhaps those who live in the few areas where this raptor is common may simply shrug, but around here the red kite was not so long ago never seen, but for the past few years they’ve been appearing, in ones normally, perhaps not so much rare now but definitely still in the unusual and infrequent category, and there it was, a far to distinctive bird as to ever be confused with anything else with a huge forked tail that always to me looks like it’s fresh off the ironing board… well, I’ve prattled on long enough for one day, see you tomorrow, or whenever you drop by next……

b-side

parallelepiped… what a truly excellent word… who cares what it means it’s just fun to say, but try saying it over and over, faster and faster and you’ll find your mouth begging you to stop…

© 2023 robert greig