A-Z Challenge 2013 - 'L'

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 – a sort of wish they were here.

L – Linnet, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Lupin, Lily

Hail to thee, blithe spirit!

It would have been easy to find a verse for a skylark but I haven’t seen this bird for years. However a species that appeared in the garden this winter is another that inspired Wordsworth to write:

Linnet

Thou, Linnet! In thy green array,

Presiding Spirit here to-day,

Dost lead the revels of the May;

And this is thy dominion.

Bird strikes are quite common on the windows of our home. 

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

This fellow was a bit worse for wear as a result. At the time I had been surprised to see what I thought was a female lesser spotted woodpecker clinging to a sturdy foxglove in the garden. Unfortunately it flew as soon as it sensed my movement at our lounge window. Then I saw the male bird, stunned on the path beneath the window, which it had apparently struck leaving a small contact outline. Initially its head was hunched in its shoulders, its eyes were closed and its beak gaping open. Over the next three-quarters of an hour it slowly recovered. During this time I managed to get a number of photos including the one above. However when it became more lively and I tried to get one more shot, it clung to the adjacent garden wall and within a few seconds it had gone. Its flight path was straight in the same direction as the earlier female bird.

I still see woodpeckers from time to time in adjacent sycamore trees and even attacking the peanuts not put out for them. You will have to wait for ‘W’ to one of those.

Lupins

My corner thronging with lupins bloom

Today I slouch here, with the dispelled gloom.

Colourful nostalgic thoughts fresh as morning dew

Lupins-- my first love its no one but you!

With the lupins, a single flower competes:

Lily

 The modest Rose puts forth a thorn,
The humble sheep a threat'ning horn:
While the Lily white shall in love delight,
Nor a thorn nor a threat stain her beauty bright.

OK! OK! I’ll acknowledge that my lily is not white so please accept this one instead

Lily

 Poems:

• To a Skylark – Percy Bysshe Shelley
• The Green Linnet – William Wordsworth
• The Lupins Corner – Supratim
• The Lily – William Blake

Photo attribution:

• Linnet - Mindaugas Urbonas; CC BY-SA 2.5

Watch the Birdie

One of the things I have done on and off for many years is to record the birds I see in my garden each day. This month I have seen linnets, siskins and a greater spotted woodpecker for the first time.

The challenge now is to photograph them - if I can. This week I succeeded with this at least.

Greater Spotted Woodpecker

Of course it would not cooperate and turn so that we could see the red at the back of its head and its red stomach that distinguishes it from the lesser spotted variety.

Not full frontal

At least in this second shot you can see some of the red on its stomach.

These shots were taken with a x40 Sony camcorder through a double glazed window. The sycamore tree is around 70 feet high; the bird is near the top and 30-40 feet from the window. It will fly at the slightest movement so there was no chance of getting closer.

Now I must hope that it comes back and 'poses' longer.

It is also difficult to photograph another more regular visitor, This is the best I've achieved so far, again through that same window at a distance of about 10 feet, but this time with a Lumix digital camera.

Goldcrest

This is Britain's smallest bird that we see every year in the conifer which would have been cut down by now if it weren't for him.