A couple of months ago the Guardian Poetry workshop had a very interesting exercise designed by a poet called David Morley.The exercise requires us to find poetry in nature or descriptions of nature. Morley says that very often even the most prosaically intended, quasi-scientific descriptions of natural things and phenomenon in such material as field guides can be astonishingly beautiful; he is very right.
Being a birder and Indian I naturally turned to Salim Ali. My difficulty then was to choose a passage; they were all variously lovely. So I opened a page at random as suggested. I just took most of what I found and placed it in a ‘live’ context. It (the context) happened to be the intended one and one I am most familiar with.
Here’s the result-
ID
Could it be
the unmistakable cousin of the Indian Pond Heron
Upper parts chestnut-cinnamon
Check
Stripe down foreneck
Strike two.
Female duller
A male then.
Resident
Solitary
Hmmm
Habits:
very similar to those of a Little Green Heron
Bookmark and flip:
When surprised
on its nest
or cornered assumes
characteristic attitude of the tribe
termed the ‘on guard’.
Ocular note:
Neck stretched perpendicular,
bill pointing skyward,
the bird freezes,
astonishingly obliterated
amongst its reedy environment.
That’s a wrap.
But just to know:
Nests – in the south west monsoon
Nest – a small twig platform
Eggs – four or five
White.
Note: Chestnut Bittern; nos: 1
