
Hoopoe visiting Navasola in Autumn
Abubilla in Spanish, Upupa epops in Latin.
So much is changing and Autumn is upon us again. This hoopoe visited close to the Navasola house last Autumn. Where has the year gone? Usually with lots of activity, things to do and most important people to see and be with. I am trying to catch up with that at the moment amidst covid anxieties and rules for ever changing. Perhaps we need to be wary like the wild ones are. This hoopoe stayed for a while and I enjoyed the time spent together but at a discreet distance and ‘glass’ barrier! I have been thinking of a collection of poems with ‘Sitting on a porch’ observations. But there are also quite a few from looking out of my writing sanctuary window. Rain should also be due next week in our Sierra and most welcome after fires raged south of us for days in the Almonaster region of Huelva.
From Through the Window Poems.
The Visit of the Hoopoe
I see you.
Through the window.
I do not usually see you.
Among the many resident birds.
And those that stay for summer.
You prefer the pines and grasslands.
Not out of the blue but into the green
You arrive to seek to survive
Flash of chestnut, almost unseen
By the wet rocks and moss
Your long beak, slender fills with life
Tiny ants, flitting flies, wriggling worms
Ready to die to give strength to you.
Beneath the Autumn mulch, much squirms
Through the window our eyes follow
Your chestnut feathers, black white bars
A round eye looking, a crown on head
To show you are one of nature’s stars.
You stop to look,to listen hard, to us perhaps?
Trying not to disturb your path through grass
We stumble to remember your elegant steps,
We must focus on and zoom through glass.
Unseen, a barrier between us and the wild that visit
A bird on a journey to a better place
A sudden encounter so camera not ready
But still we draw in so close to your eyes.
I have not yet reached my target. Please help me help nature in these uncertain and challenging times.
That’s lovely. The only time we have sen hoopoes was in Valencia one morning, when we saw them scavenging in an urban square full of bars with outside tables.
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They do not seem to mind busy places!
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Privileged to receive a visit from such an illustrious bird – well-preserved in verse!
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A rare royal π with character!
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A lovely visit beautifully described. I can hardly remember last autumn, it seems like another world!
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Thanks, indeed another world. Hope all well. I have just started reading Draca. Will keep you posted but seems very skilled with ‘showing’ character and emotion.
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What a beautiful bird and poem.
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My husband’s favourite bird, Georgina. We often see them here but they’re always a welcome sight. π π The poems are a nice idea to raise money. I’m afraid my efforts go to our bombeiros and our Algarve in Need charity. It’s going to be a difficult winter for many here.
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Yes, more common in Algarve. It certainly seems like winter will be challenging.
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