Greeting the Day with a Wren

As the sun rose a gentle mist followed it, clinging to the valley floor. It never reached beyond three feet from the ground and was soon burnt off by growing warmth the sun brought, the spectacle was a fitting start to a glorious day.

I was heading out with the hope and intention of trying to film the Red Kites feeding. From observation I knew that within the next two hours at least one of the birds would show up. My plan was to set up a camera at low level with a very wide angle lens and by setting out food for the Kites, catch them on film swooping in to take the food.

The field I would have preferd to use was occupied by horses. This meant that if the horses were spooked by a large bird of prey coming in, would my camera survive. Also, if the horses ate the food for the Kites would it harm them? I was not prepared to take any risks with the health of the Horses or the Kites. Therefore I moved to the second location I had previously selected. I set the camera up and all I could do was wait.

However, while I was setting up I was regaled by the song of a Wren. It was perched at the top of the hedge where I planned to sit and wait. With the other camera, I tried to film the Wren, but it moved away. I did film it as it sang from the gutter of a house and then a lamp post. So while not the natural setting I wanted I was delighted to see this songster and film him belting out his greeting to the day.

I realise that there will be folks out there that think I am anthropomorphising the bird, but it really did look as though the bird was singing with delight. He was not the only one, as there were many birds that appeared in and around this hedge to sing their greeting to the morning.

After over an hour had passed I had to change the tape. The Kites had not appeared yet and I checked the skies and they were not coming yet. Having changed the tape, I settled down to watch and wait. All the while getting occasional glimpses of the small birds flitting in and out of the hedgerow.

Finally after about fifty minutes the Red Kite appeared over in the east, I would come over this way as it quartered the ground, all I could do was wait. Finally it came over and in one swift movement dropped from the sky and the chicken was gone. The Kites don't even land but snatch the food from the ground. All this happened in front of the camera so I really wanted to get the footage up loaded on to the computer. The Kite was off anyway with its breakfast, and after nearly two hours that was a good idea for me too.

Off home, I made a cup of tea and started to rewind the tape, but the battery was flat. Plugging it into the mains, I rewound the tape and played it through at double speed. Well the power had failed about five minutes before the kite showed up. Therefore this time I had not got the footage, even so it was a delight to see and the experience was not totally wasted as I did film the Wren.