The Redpoll Family Poem by Francis Duggan

In low down branch of leafy alder tree
I hear them noise the redpoll family
And with gaping mouths they take their tasty fill
Of tiny seeds their parents bring in bill.

In cup shaped nest built with painstaking care
Of pale green moss and lined with cattle hair
Four fledgeling birds with mottled wings of brown
Whose ancestors for sweet song won renown.

For such small birds they eat a hefty feed
And those tiny craws can take a lot of seed
And with little time for leisure or for song
Their parents work hard for them all day long.

It's almost time for them to leave the nest
And their next step in life a flying test
From branch to branch in green grove they will fly
And then to freedom of the open sky.

In some green grove next year in prime of Spring
These little birds their first sweet songs will sing
And joy will touch the heart of listening soul
At twittering notes of wild born finch redpoll.