My A-Z posts this year
are based on my garden – flowers, animals, the birds and the bees, butterflies
- with a bit of poetry thrown in. For some letters I am expecting to cheat
somewhat – wishing they were here.
O – Oceanus, Osteospermum, Owl, Osprey
O! O! O! Three ‘O’s on
which I’ve cheated. If it hadn’t been for a fine blue shrub I would have come
up with a big fat ‘zero’ for ‘O.’
Oceanus |
Unfortunately it got so large it swamped everything else in
the border, so it had to go; a decision I’ve regretted ever since.
A few years ago we grew some of these:-
Osteospermum |
However the photo is from the Longwood
Gardens in the USA; I didn’t
get a shot of ours at the time,
The last time we saw an owl in our sycamore tree was in May
2010. We frequently hear owls at dusk and after dark. But it and they are not
owls like this, scanned from an old birthday card,
Barn Owl |
As I’ve cheated to include the bird I might as well go all
the way and quote a poem in full.
The Barn Owl
While moonlight,
silvering all the walls,
Through every
mouldering crevice falls,
Tipping with white
his powdery plume,
As shades or shifts
the changing gloom;
The Owl that, watching;
in the barn,
Sees the mouse
creeping in the corn,
Sits still, and shuts
his round blue eyes
As if he slept, —
until he spies
The little beast
within his stretch-
Then starts, and
seizes on the wretch!
I lived in Rutland,
England’s
smallest county, as a boy. Since then the Empingham Water reservoir has been
created; each year it becomes the home of another magnificent bird.
Osprey |
I have not seen one there, but I am pleased to say I have in
Scotland, near Aberdeen.
Once more I hear the
osprey cry
My name across the
northern sky
But I am far away
from there
Poems
- The Barn Owl – Samuel Butler
- Osprey Calls My Name – John K Zimmerman
Photos:
- Osteospermum – Longwood Gardens; by Raul654 – CC BY-SA 3.0
- Osprey – from Flickr; by flythebirdpath; CC BY-SA 2.0
2 comments:
Did you ever check my son in law's website Bob? Link on my blog. I know you would enjoy looking at his paintings.
JO ON FOOD, MY TRAVELS AND A SCENT OF CHOCOLATE
Hi Bob .. I love the owl picture and the poem .. We seem to be trying to keep some of our species .. the Osprey is a magnificent creature - with an amazing cry ..
Cheers Hilary
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