Joys of Winter

Thank you, OGM. That's great. I used to live near the starling roost on Beacon Fell in the Trough of Bowland. It's a stunning thing to watch them fly in by their thousands upon thousands from all the compass directions, isn't it? You have captured it well.

Thanks Annobel I hesitated about posting it as there are so many brilliant wordsmiths on GN!
We are lucky to live about 25 miles from the largest starling roost in the country.

Great picture, OGM. There's a wonderful sense of movement in your verse. Lovely.

Starlings

No-one is first, no-one is last,
A rope of starlings unfurls against the ice-ble sky
Coils, twists and knots.
A marsh harrier
Not arrow straight,
Buffetted and baffled
Flaps clumsily into the swirling, spinning swarm.
The starlings whirl, gyrate and spin
Rising and falling.
No-one is first, no-one is last.

As if at a given signal
Thousands fall from the sky into the winter reeds
Chattering incessantly
Squabbling at screaming pitch.
Then silence
Stillness.
Together for warmth as the sky darkens and the temperature drops.
They will survive the night.
No-one must be first, no-one must be last.

Lovely, Butty.

butty I enjoyed that!

Sounds like a lovely friendly evening, butty.

Last night a fiery grate
Chilli to make you sweat
Shutters closed
Candles lit
Table laid for eight

Blackberry tart, autumn picked
Stored Brambly, stewed
Tart blue cheese
Crumbly cheddar
Home made bread with seeds

Wine flowed, cheeks flushed
Plans were made in jest
Table moved
Smiles all round
Dancing just because...

bagitha your word picture captures the spirit of Scotland's wonderful wilderness. Rannoch Moor has a special place in my heart. At times it can appear brutal - yet, it lifts the spirit sky-high.

wheeeee! Looks like these westerlies are set to carry on all week...

I hope you can one day, butty. I wrote some more about the day on Vol 2 of the "Today I have been mainly" thread but we have since moved on to Vol 3 so you may not have seen it.

The wind has been howling all night as well. Some people are calling it Bawbag v.3 (the hurricane that hit Scotland on 8 December during which winds of 165mph were recorded on Cairngorm was called Hurricane Bawbag; none of your girlie hurricanes for Scotland! ).

What a day to have had. It sounds wonderfully invigorating. Makes me want to visit wild, wild scotland on such a day!

Winter today on Rannoch Moor
In Glen Etive and Glen Coe.
The conical Buachaille Etive Mor and Beag
Standing out fierce and humbling
Between raw squalls of wind and sleet.
The winter bracken russet brown
The winter grass pale straw
Tiny rushes standing proud
Not to be blown, hardly bent at all
By that wind that would have flattened me
On those hills today.
On green mossy parts red deer browsed.
Wonderful colours and wonderful life
In a harsh sub arctic climate, surviving.
Beautiful, awe-inspiring, refreshing
In its bleak bluntness.

supernana... lovely!

supernana love it! xxx

supernana

Snow? What's that?

More applause and more .

super - love it. Snowin' here too and flippin' cold

Super [loud applause emoticon]

Tis awful chill
on yonder hill
the trees they are a bendin' -
and down below
there's been some snow
ain't no use pretendin'
that winter's o'er
outside our door
'cos spring it ain't yet comin'
but still that cat
sits on the mat
pretendin' that he's sunnin'

Blackbirds and song thrushes - what a musical morning it's been for you.

No singing here, as we are encased in a low and heavy dripping mist ... very raw too ... so all the birds have tucked themselves away.

I did see a beautiful beech-martin yesterday morning, running hell for leather along the undersides of a hedge. Gorgeous colour!

Meant wren. Also blackbird woke me up at 7.13 this morning!

All Jenny's are lovely! I haven't seen my were for at least a year,but I did see coal tits and a heron yesterday.

Temperature cooler by several degrees,
A little new snow on the hills,
Sunshine and light at sunrise
For a change.
Out the back, up the hill that is my garden
Twenty or more hungry wood pigeons
Scoffing the leftovers of the chickens' breakfast!
And as I spread my bread and marmalade
The first song of Turdus philomelos
This year.