Black & white & in-between

By Lynn Elder

Grey clouds form a leaden sky
Above the black cattle grazing below.
Tree trunks are blackened
By the dampness they absorb 
From heavy downpours
Released from above.

Dimming daylight alternates
Between the various shades 
Of white, grey and black.
Birds and pets alike match
The colour scheme of the day. 

9 thoughts on “Black & white & in-between

    • Hi Mark, I must do a post about this native Australian bird known as the Magpie. We even have an Aussie Rules team called the Magpies. This black and white bird is widespread throughout Australian. It has a distinctive warbling sound which is so melodic and beautiful. On the down side, they can become quite aggressive during spring and swoop people whether walking or cycling. I have even seen a bird chasing a postman on a motorbike down a busy road in Melbourne. They are incredibly smart. Many people feed them with fresh mince meat. I have learned more recently this is not good for them because it does not contain all the nutrients needed for solid bones and joints. When I get a chance I will upload a sound file and more photos if you like. The English Magpie is very different bird and doesn’t have the same sound. Lynn

      Liked by 1 person

      • Hi Lynn, Thanks for this response. So interesting tos hear about the feeding of mince meat. And, that makes a lot of sense when you think that they are a part of the Corvid family with crow and jays. I’m always interested in learning more about birds so if you feel inspired to write about the Magpie, I would be interested in reading. Thanks and I hope all is well!

        Like

      • Hi Mark. Many thanks for your interest in our beautiful magpies. When I hear them warbling it is such a joy to hear as the dawn breaks. You have prompted me to do a bit more research and go through my photo archives. All is well here thanks and hope the same for you too. Lynn

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s