Waiting expectantly at the appointed hour
Looking north scanning across the lake
Eating dinner sitting by the windows
When they first appear on the horizon.
A steady stream of fish crows flies past
Coming right at us low over the water
Swooping up over us and on both sides
Garrulous birds calling out to each other.
Such a spectacle to witness every evening
On their way to their community roost
So many hundreds if not thousands pass us
Going somewhere unknown to us.
Our little lake gets many visitors but few stay
To join the grebes herons egrets and ducks
An osprey or even an eagle may inspect us
Sometimes a spoonbill drops in for a while.
A raft of cormorants dives for fish some days
A limpkin or a stork may search for snails
This afternoon swallows skim the surface
Above an anhinga coming up for air.
At any given moment there's no telling
What you will see if you open your eyes
Noticing the wildlife happening around us
Carrying on quite apart from human affairs.
