PARTRIDGES WITHOUT A PEAR TREE
Come hither, seek refuge
Upon our verdant lawn.
Safe from hunters who
seek to drive your kind forth.
Your two bulbous bodies
step with confidence across the grass,
heads bobbing up and down in counterpoint
peck, pause, peck, pause.
Blood-red eyes assess the danger.
None.
The perfect bulls-eye
for a shot.
Crimson beaks puckered
ready for action,
mediterranean blue flecks
dappled upon your necks.
As for your brown colouring
tawny, tan, mottled, striking,
golden, shimmering, majestic,
Anything but dull.
Starring glumly from the fence
the two resident pigeons.
Bemused, irked, egos dented
as they give ground and wait.
Patience a necessity
this grey afternoon
as the red-legged partridges
explore, feed, recuperate.
The blue tits fret anxiously
eager to return to the feeders.
I, however, gaze in awe
at our unusual visitors.
You’re welcome, again.
Anytime!
I better get out
to plant a pear tree!
©Annika Perry, March 2024
All photographs ©Annika Perry.
The camera used to take these photographs is a Canon Power Shot SX 620 HS
Annika Perry 
What a beautiful poem to honor these beautifies visiting you Annika. Happy to know that they are safe with you. Your photos and lines are just gorgeous, my freind💓
Bless! Thank you so much, Cindy! 🙏 I felt honoured by their visit and also thankful for the inspiration of this poem. It felt good to know they were safe here … but do worry where they got to afterwards! Wishing you a lovely start to April! Xx ❤️
So THAT’S what a partridge looks like. What a beautiful fat bird!
Betsy, I too had that lightbulb moment once I found out what the bird actually was – now when singing the Christmas Carol this coming December I can accurately picture a partridge!
And now all your readers (who didn’t already know) can too! 🙂
Really captures these birds and the need for a pear tree!
Haha! I know, we better get more than a tiny sapling of a pear tree! It was lovely to be inspired by these unusual birds!
How wonderful, Annika. I can’t imagine seeing a partridge up close. They’re beautiful. Great shots. Hugs.
Teagan, I must say I’d never seen one before and NEVER expected to see a pair in our garden – feels quite a privilege! Many thanks for your lovely comment and Happy Easter! xx
So funny that now you better get up to plant a pear tree. Gave me a belly laugh. I needed this. Thank you. Lovely photos. Lovely poetry. Lovely visitors. Stellar work my friend.
Selma, I’m happy to have given you a laugh with my post! 😀 I just hope those partridges are patient as it will take a some years for the sapling to grow – once it’s planted! Seriously, bless your for your wonderful comment – it means so much to me! ❤️
We get all kinds of birds at our birdfeeder, including huge, wild turkeys, but we’ve never had a partridge. Your photos are absolutely gorgeous. And I smiled at your poem. Very well done. By the way, I am really enjoying the book The Frequency of Us.
Pam, those wild giant turkeys sound a bit scary!😀 I’ve just seen them on TV and very impressive. It’s wonderful that you enjoyed the photos of the unusual visitors and my poem – thank you so much! 🙏Yeah! Great you’re enjoying the book – it becomes even more intense towards the end and involves a bit of mental gymnastics! Enjoy, my friend. Wishing you a lovely Easter, my friend! xx 💕
Mental gymnastics! That’s a neat phrase. I hope I’m up to the challenge. 😳😌