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.
