Draw a Bird Day: Grackle

Every beach vacation comes with its own bird. One year it was mockingbirds, one year a very vocal cardinal.  One year, crows.

This year we were accompanied by grackles. They would sit on the railing of the beach house speaking in their rusty tongue, lined up like soldiers. If one turned, all turned.  Once they saw someone was paying attention they would vocalize a bit more and suddenly disappear.

On the beach they appeared ahead of my walking path and waited for me, foraging in the waves. As soon as I caught up, they flew off ahead again.

Although it’s natural to see their iridescent strutting as a variation on crows, grackles are actually part of the lark family, related also to blackbirds and orioles.

But they do have a connection to crows—all back birds are said to know magic, to live on the borders of the possible unknown.

standing on the edge
between water and shoreline,
feathers glittering,

you pause, watch me watching you–
our eyes meet through layered light

For Colleen’s #TankaTuesday, poet’s choice of words, a haibun.

Draw-a-Bird Day is placeholding here at method two madness each month until Nina returns.  You can find me at https://kblog.blog/ in the meantime.

I’ve also linked to dVerse Open Link night.