Sunday 5 May 2013

Steely sentinel of a screaming Summer

Still no damsels or dragons to be seen in the environs of Tense Towers or the local nature reserve. The torture continues.

However, we did have a most pleasant wildlife experience yesterday evening. As the four of us (Our Lass, First and Second Born, me) walked back to the car after an excellent meal in an Italian restaurant, a shape in the sky caught my attention. Initially misjudging the range, I assumed it was a Swallow, but as the bird turned this way and that, it offered a very different silhouette. The dying rays of the sun lit up its black plumage so that it appeared to have the glow of hot embers as it... there's no other word for it... scythed through the air.

Swift!

Silent scything, admittedly, but the piercing calls will come as more of these gorgeous birds return to their traditional nest sites to breed.

[Happy contended sigh]

4 comments:

holdingmoments said...

and long may they continue to return.
Always a most welcome sight.

Katie (Nature ID) said...

What!?! No odes, yet? May it be all the more enjoyable once they do arrive.

Saw this blog post this morning and thought you'd like it:
http://matthewwills.com/2013/05/06/assume-the-position/

Imperfect and Tense said...

Well, as they almost say, one doesn't make a Summer. No more seen this weekend :o(

Imperfect and Tense said...

And still none. It's not from lack of looking :o(

Thanks for the link, it made me chuckle.