Birds 11 - Bar Tailed Godwit Poem by Unnikrishnan Sivasankara Menon
Birds 11 - Bar Tailed Godwit
Migratory birds fly
many a thousand miles
across the glob
year after year,
to warmer places
escape from
acute cold weather
or vice versa.
So does a tiny water bird
the Bar Tailed Godwit
that travel from Alaska
to escape the Arctic Winter,
to Tasmania or New Zealand
enjoy the cosy warmth
of the Antarctic summer,
there they nest and breed.
They'd fly back months later
with their chicks in tow
before winter sets in
in the Antarctic South.
Each flight non-stop about
fifteen thousand kilometres,
is a world record, a wonder
even for migratory birds.
How do they save energy
for such a long journey non-stop
without food or water
is an unsolved enigma!
What we know
about the wonders
n' secrets of Nature
is SO LITTLE.
So beautifully presented the life of migratory birds in the few lines. Perhaps they were knowing the spherical shape of earth earlier than men. Well done, dear poet. With best wishes/PC.
You should be right, Pallab. Their natural instincts are superior to that of man. And in flying, birds are found to make best use of the air-currents to save energy. Thank You
Beautifully penned. So true that we know little of the mysteries this world holds. This poem probes deeply into the workings of Nature. Birds are enigmatic creatures and they arouse our curiosity. Very profound questions put here through the strange phenomena of nature.
4. And how do the migratory birds remember their place of birth? How do they navigate across the globe? There are many theories, but none is conclusive!
3. And thank you Nosheen. I have always noticed that you study the poems thoroughly (at least my poems) before making such meaningful notes on them. Thank You!
How do they store this much energy in the form of body-fat? And the chicks, within a few months of their hatching? Nature, thy mysteries! ! !
Very true, Nosheen. When I read about the Bar-tailed Godwits flying from one pole of the earth to the other, non-stop,15000 km one way, I was wonder struck.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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5/1/2024 11:43:14 AM # 1.0.0.1119
I had posted rejoinders to Pallab and Nosheen. Where have my post disappeared?