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.
