Maybe today
.
I know I almost see him every day, as I work outside in my garden, but I can never be sure. He forever skits about in my peripheral vision. An indistinguishable swish of brown that moves around swiftly in the corner of my eye, flitting incessantly. However in the millisecond it takes to look at him, to focus on him, he manages to skitter away and disappear behind a tree or hedge.
I often try to catch sight of him while I am indoors as I hide behind my net curtains. I leave him food on the ground in front of my window, which he seems to enjoy. Blurred by the material, I squint hard to unsuccessfully bring the image of him into focus as he frenziedly feeds. Yet move the barrier between us a fraction to get that clearer glimpse and he vanishes.
Occasionally on frosty winter evenings I sit quietly in the silence of my darkened room, the net curtains drawn back. He seems to like the shelter my ancient house provides. There are various old dark cavities and crevices in the crumbling brickwork and I often seen him arrive just after dusk to settle down for the night. However, due to evening shadows and my senior eyes, he is just brown body against brown brick, indistinct, never quite in focus.
I’m jealous of anyone who claims to have seen him clearly, although I tend not to believe the ones who tell me they have seen him ‘hundreds of times.’
I would be delighted just to see him the once in detail.
I realise that many people consider him dull and insignificant, common even, but he is beautiful and special to me. He’s more than just a welcome visitor on the periphery of my otherwise busy life and means so much more to me than just another tick off my list. From the day I first saw his picture in my childhood bird book, I fell in love with his tiny, fat brown body, and unmistakable upward pointing tail. He is the reason I became a bird watcher.
I long to view him in sharp focus, to be able to recognise him. I yearn to become someone who can claim to say, ‘Yes, without a doubt, I have seen a Eurasian Wren.'
Fingers crossed, maybe today will be my lucky day.
.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is my entry for therealljidol
Week 15 - periphery
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)
is a very small bird, and the only member of the wren family
Troglodytidae found in Eurasia and Africa.
I know I almost see him every day, as I work outside in my garden, but I can never be sure. He forever skits about in my peripheral vision. An indistinguishable swish of brown that moves around swiftly in the corner of my eye, flitting incessantly. However in the millisecond it takes to look at him, to focus on him, he manages to skitter away and disappear behind a tree or hedge.
I often try to catch sight of him while I am indoors as I hide behind my net curtains. I leave him food on the ground in front of my window, which he seems to enjoy. Blurred by the material, I squint hard to unsuccessfully bring the image of him into focus as he frenziedly feeds. Yet move the barrier between us a fraction to get that clearer glimpse and he vanishes.
Occasionally on frosty winter evenings I sit quietly in the silence of my darkened room, the net curtains drawn back. He seems to like the shelter my ancient house provides. There are various old dark cavities and crevices in the crumbling brickwork and I often seen him arrive just after dusk to settle down for the night. However, due to evening shadows and my senior eyes, he is just brown body against brown brick, indistinct, never quite in focus.
I’m jealous of anyone who claims to have seen him clearly, although I tend not to believe the ones who tell me they have seen him ‘hundreds of times.’
I would be delighted just to see him the once in detail.
I realise that many people consider him dull and insignificant, common even, but he is beautiful and special to me. He’s more than just a welcome visitor on the periphery of my otherwise busy life and means so much more to me than just another tick off my list. From the day I first saw his picture in my childhood bird book, I fell in love with his tiny, fat brown body, and unmistakable upward pointing tail. He is the reason I became a bird watcher.
I long to view him in sharp focus, to be able to recognise him. I yearn to become someone who can claim to say, ‘Yes, without a doubt, I have seen a Eurasian Wren.'
Fingers crossed, maybe today will be my lucky day.
.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is my entry for therealljidol
Week 15 - periphery
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)
is a very small bird, and the only member of the wren family
Troglodytidae found in Eurasia and Africa.