Birds of Ocean Ridge

The birds of Ocean Ridge are varied as can be
Some as big as 4-year olds, some small as household keys

The tall ones are the herons, the tallest of them blue
They stand there at the pond’s edge to catch a fish or two
Stealthfully they inch out, eyes focused on the fish
Then all at once their beak strikes and they have another dish
They hurry back on to the bank, the fish caught in their throat
They scrunch their neck to let it pass, for the fish that’s all she wrote
And then the poor bird shudders, like my daughter eating peas
Then back down to the water’s edge as if to say “more, please”!

The smallest are the humming birds; all iridescent green
Darting now from bush to tree barely to be seen
Each day I grab my camera thinking this time I got her
As she hovers at our feeder imbibing sugar water
But when I click the shutter, I find I am mistaken
For I don’t see a humming bird in the pictures I have taken
But I’ll keep snapping pictures and if it takes all summer
I’m finally going to get a shot of that illusive hummer!


Mdailey 08/18/09