On Paying Attention

Bluebirds, cardinals
and housewrens all feeding young
Two houses, one bush

Brown thrashers, towhees,
woodpeckers, finches, and hawks
have all fledged nearby

If one has to be
quarantined at home, let it
be nesting season

~dkm 316/365

Cardinal Nest Update

One of the two eggs
has hatched. Father comes to feed
the small bobbing head

Mother still sitting
on the nest between feedings
One egg not yet hatched

Has something gone wrong?
It's been three days since the first
 Seems too long. Worried.

~dkm 315/365

Housewren Chapter Four

Finally she chose
his best offer and moved in
Nevermind plumbing

With her artful skill
of lining the sticks with fluff
she could make it do

She knew she had to
For now her eggs were coming
She'd no time to waste

~dkm 314/365

Day-old Hatchlings

Featherless, helpless
Full dependence on parents'
Protection and care

Is it pure instinct?
I want to think something of
love is in the mix

~dkm 313/365

Rainy Day at the Office

Dear Aerie, you know
I love you a lot, but I'd
rather be outside

~dkm 312/365

A Little Bit of Magic

I happened to be
planting begonias not far
from the bluebird house

I might have missed it
had I not been working there
Thank you, universe

Again and again
Mama Bluebird perched outside
the door of her house

She peeked in from out
without entering, then flew
to a nearby branch

I was curious
Waited till she flew away
Then peeked in myself

As she had hinted
much was happening inside
Hatching in progress

~dkm 311/365

Red-tailed Hawk Baby

Clumsy on high branch
Enormous fledgling, hoarse screech
Juvenile beggar

Mother hawk nearby
Thankful to have her month-old
nestling out of nest

~dkm 310/365

Nest At My Window

(Response to Robert Frost's Tree At My Window)

Nest at my window
Window nest. Tender and still
sitting cardinal

Two precious egg gems
Light blue with splotches reddish,
greenish, rarely seen

May legend be true
That a cardinal visit
means all shall be well

I love this mother
at window, window mother
May she too be well

~dkm 309/365

Hope and Doubt

May the buds open
Three accidental breaks from
hydrangea pruning

~dkm 308/365

Second Bluebird Brood

Same house same season
How is it that it never
loses its magic

dkm 307/365

Gulf Fritillary

Common in Georgia
Today's garden companion
Uncommon beauty

~dkm 306/365

Madam Cardinal

Her nest is open
to sky and storm. Through the rain
she covers her eggs

Feathers dripping, she
upturns her head to the rain
and never once leaves

~dkm 305/375

Composting

The humble earthworm
Mother Earth's most elegant
housekeeping system

~dkm 304/365

Indeed!

I hope I'm shocking
you, said the slimy shiny
blue salamander

who turned up beneath
my hand rake. Oh you can be
sure of that, I said.

But why don't you run?
No need, he said.  I'm secure
in my ugliness

I'm pretty sure you
won't touch me. Oh you can say
that again, I said

~dkm 303/365

Carolina Jasmine

May pinwheels send out
intoxicating perfume
to the bees and me

~dkm 302/365

Cackle and Crest

Sir Pileated
Woodpecker, we'd be glad if
you'd choose to nest here

Happy to hear you
cackle and see you explore
that old snag back there

But please avoid deck,
or risk tree trunk removal
by live-in gardener

Also, are red-tailed
hawks a danger to your young?
Because some live near

Still, what hawk would dare
tangle with a beak of such
strength and drive as yours?

May you like said trunk
that we can thrill for a time
at your cackle and crest

~dkm 301/365

May You Be Well

Good morning, Madame
Cardinal. I'm glad you're back
on your nest today

I'm sorry about
that lawnmower yesterday
and the weed eater

Your stoic sitting
is a remarkable thing
to behold and laud

~dkm 300/365

Five Weeks Later

What a difference
five weeks made in the growing
life of Empress Wu

This is her third Spring
If she takes eight years to reach
full stature, oh my.

~dkm 299/365

May 14, 2020

May 14, 2020

April 6, 2020

Update

That nest I found on
Mother's Day was not built by

the housefinch nearby

Madame Cardinal

is the proud but stressed mama

First seen yesterday

Nest sitting today
except when she leaves to chase
birds and squirrels away

Is she wishing now
she hadn't chosen to nest
in the blueberries?

By her size and beak
and fierceness, she'll fare better
than housefinches might

Stoic and patient
She sits, watches, and chases
I watch her watching

~dkm 298/365

Great White Egret

I see it moving
among the bushes in the
Wayback. White feathers

Most egrets don't come
this far inland. What species
could be rustling there?

Slowly, I creep down
the path to investigate
The white feathers stop

I stop too to wait
till it moves again, that I
may see what it is

Ha! We both startle
at the sight of the other
It's my wedded love

~dkm 297/365

Housewren Chapter Three

Still waiting to see
if she'll choose new hanging house
He shows it to her

They both flit around
They both sing nearby.  He says,
This one is ready

Nice little round hole
Low and safe inside the box
Just right for babies

Perfect location
Lacks only your approval
and your soft lining

She asks, Is that all?
He answers, My best offer.
She says, No plumbing

~dkm 296/365

Mother's Day Gift

Discovered today
a new bird nest deep inside
the blueberry bush

Eager to confirm
if it belongs to the red
housefinch I saw near

And if he's up to
protecting his brood once the
blueberries ripen

~dkm 295/365

I Wonder

How is it that pine
needles shine in sun on tree
but are dull in hand?

~dkm 294/365

Moment Exalted

This day brings to mind
a memorized verse, sublime:
simple, pure, and rare
~dkm 293/365

Who Has Seen the Wind
             by Christina Rossetti
Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you:
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through. 

Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.
.

Slam Dunk

Carolina wrens
mating, oh my, atop the
basketball backboard

She landed first to
wait for him. And after, he
sang his fool heart out

~dkm 292/365

Magnolia Green Jumping Spider

Crawling on armchair
Easy to identify
by photo enlarged

Tiny, fast mover
Eight legs, translucent color
Spots on abdomen

Native to southeast
Habitat, magnolia trees
Slightly venomous

Won't kill you, but bite
will hurt. How did it get in,
and where did it go?

~dkm 291/365

Disheveled Camouflage

But for the simple
act of paying attention
She might have been missed

Brand new brown thrasher
So new she knew naught of her
world as frightening

~dkm 290/365

Photo credit: Barbara Sherman

Peony Transformed

This Sarah Bernhardt
used to bloom as one fragrant
puffball, pink and full

What happened this year?
An outer frame of petals
surrounds smaller puff

~dkm 289/365

I Like the Latter

Kerfuffle in tree
Two red-bellied woodpeckers
Profiles clearly seen

Couldn't determine
gender or age, or if they
might have been fledglings

Research suggests some
varied possibilities,
given time of year

Mating, defending
territory or nest site,
or even playing

~dkm 288/365

Sunny Windy Morning

Be still long enough
Wait, watch, hear, breathe with the trees
You become the wind

~dkm 287/365

A Moment Shared

To behold the first
flight of new bluebirds is to
take one's own again

~dkm 286/365