Walking my tetrad

16th March - Today I spent 4 hours walking round my tetrad for the BTO bird survey counting birds and looking for signs of breeding activity. Today's highlights were watching 3 buzzard circling together and calling to each. Another treat was listening to male chaffinches sing - (come on girls these boys are really trying hard!)

I also paused by the weir and salmon ladder - this stretch of the Yarrow is just begging for a dipper:

missed

underneath the spreading beech,
where the weir horseshoes to a pool,
then tumbles over rocks where the mill-race
joins the stream, is where
I always thought we would build
a seat, where we could wait
until the dipper came, and watch
it dart, without hesitation,
into the tingling flow,
splashing kisses
against the water’s push.

but we lingered
too long, never built
the seat, never waded in.
The dipper flew off long ago,
and though I often pass this way,
pause
on the bank,
the dipper never comes this way again.