In Touch With Nature – The African Spoonbill #Africanbirds #InTouchWithNature #poetry

Picture caption: Banner for in touch with nature featuring an elephant

Today, I am sharing about the African Spoonbill bird, which is found across Africa and Madagascar, including Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe using the format of a rensaku tanka poem. A rensaku is a series of tanka poems (syllabic poems using the form of 5/7/5/7/7) to tell a story.

I have included some of my photographs and videos to embellish the story.

African Spoonbill

Long tapering legs

Atop a pure white body

African Spoonbill

Red legs match its red eye mask

No crest adorns its sleek head

Picture caption: African Spoonbill wading through the water

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African Spoonbill

Named for its spatulate bill

Long and coloured grey

From side-to-side its bill swings

Open to catch tasty food

Picture caption: African Spoonbill with its long spatulate bill on display

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Living in marshes

With open shallow waters

African Spoonbill

Hunts water loving creatures

Including fish and molluscs

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African Spoonbill

Builds its nest in colonies

In trees or reedbeds

From sticks and reeds lined with leaves

And breeds during winter months

Picture caption: Picture of the African Spoonbill’s beak from the side

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To woo a female

Males develop bright plumage

She then lays five eggs

African Spoonbill males help

With incubation and care

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Unable to fly

African Spoonbill youngsters

Are dependent for

A twenty-day period

Before leaving their parents

My YouTube video of an African Spoonbill hunting for food with the typical swaying motion:

About Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Roberta Eaton Cheadle, is a South African writer and poet specialising in historical, paranormal, and horror novels and short stories. She is an avid reader in these genres and her writing has been influenced by famous authors including Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Amor Towles, Stephen Crane, Enrich Maria Remarque, George Orwell, Stephen King, and Colleen McCullough.

Roberta has two published novels and a collection of short stories and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories included in several anthologies. She is also a contributor to the Ask the Authors 2022 (WordCrafter Writing Reference series).

Roberta is also the author and illustrator of sixteen children’s books, illustrator to a further three children’s books, and the author and illustrator of three poetry books published under the name of Robbie Cheadle, and has poems and short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

Roberta’s blog features discussions about classic books, book reviews, poetry, and photography. https://roberta-writes.com/.

Find Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Blog: https://wordpress.com/view/robertawrites235681907.wordpress.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobertaEaton17

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robertawrites

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Roberta-Eaton-Cheadle/e/B08RSNJQZ5

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This segment of “In Touch with Nature” is sponsored by the Midnight Anthology Series and  WordCrafter Press .

Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories: 20 authors bring your nightmares to life in 23 stories of ghosts, paranormal phenomenon and the horror from the dark crevasses of their minds. Stories of stalkers, both human and supernatural, possession and occult rituals, alien visitations of the strange kind, and ghostly tales that will give you goosebumps. These are the tales that will make you fear the dark. Read them at the Midnight Roost… if you dare.

https://books2read.com/MidnightRoost

Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow: 17 authors bring you 21 magnificent dark tales. Stories of magic, monsters and mayhem. Tales of murder and madness which will make your skin crawl. These are the tales that explore your darkest fears. Read them in the Midnight Garden… if you dare.

https://books2read.com/MidnightGardenAnthology