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Skylark

 

"Hail to thee blithe spirit"

 

In the nesting season the long grasses of the rough of the Earlsferry Golf Course  become home to many birds including skylarks.

 

I don't know if skylarks stay with us all year round but in the nesting season they're a joy to behold.  They build their nests and lay their eggs, to hatch their brood, deep down in the long grasses that edge many of the fairways of the Earlsferry golf course.

 

My favourite place to spot their nests and watch them was at the right hand side of the 13th, fairway, anywhere from the tee to the hole that's right below the Croupie Rock at the start of the cliff walk. Just a break in the long grasses, a something that appears just a little bit different, marks the entryway to their nests.  To find their nests it's best to lay down in the long grasses from a distance and very carefully and patiently watch for their comings and goings.

 

I think that both parent birds take turns sitting on the nest. While the one is on the nest the other is hovering directly high overhead. As they climb ever higher and higher in the sky their tiny wings beat to keep them on station while they sing their unending love songs. They do this all day long, hover and just sing their little hearts out.

 

I always wondered how such tiny birds can flap their wings like  hummingbirds and sing as they do, high up in the sky, for hours on end.

West Bay and the 13th Fairway

Skylark Country