A RAVEN FLEW OVER
A raven came over from the south, cronking in the bright but cloudy sky. Two jackdaws flew out to meet it, not with pleasure but as though to see off an enemy. For a minute their cries dominated the midday soundscape, three black birds doing an aggrivated dance.
The biggest of the trio basically carried on with lazy wing-beats along the line of the Shaston burr and out of sight with jacks harrassing at close quarters. Raven dropped a shoulder occasionally to perform an accelerated cork-screw out the way.
Quit again. Nice to have a day without rain. I’m taking down the sunflowers, ragged spent and seedless affairs. Snapped in three, the thick, pithy stems sit atop the compost now.
Canes are up, rubbed clean of soil and laid into a pile to sort and store. Where this activity has ruffled the lushious foliage of Purple Sprouting broccoli clouds of sheltering whitefly diturb the air like dust particles beaten from a dirty rug.
Copyright, Joe Hashman www.dirtynails.co.uk
Tags: december, jackdaw, purple sprouting broccoli, raven, shaftesbury, sunflower, whitefly