Today was good for the birdwatcher in me. I managed to get the most successful photo so far of one of those annoyingly timid green woodpeckers in the crematorium. The photo can be found on my Flickr account.
Then, on the way home, I saw a sparrowhawk. Or at least, that’s what I think it was. Probably not big enough to be a buzzard or anything. The strange thing is, while I walk through the crematorium and Queen’s Park, the sparrowhawk chose to hunt in gardens down Brackendale Road. Maybe it was lost, or maybe it’s scared of golfers. Or maybe we should be worried. Maybe it thinks humans would make a tasty snack. Whatever the reason, I’m glad I saw it. It’s a pity I didn’t have the camera ready in time, because it was an extremely impressive silhouette against the sky when I first saw it swooping across the road.
Now I’ve been given an old bird guide by my Dad’s friend Eric, I can start to identify all the birds I see on the way to school. And I’ll report any interesting sightings here.
A couple of lines of a song from the novel Holes by Louis Sachar, which I recommend to anyone who hasn’t read it:
“If only, if only,” the woodpecker sighs,
“The bark on the trees was as soft as the skies…”
