At the end of a rainbow
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| A rainbow ends in a grass tussock |
Sunshine and showers are a good mix for watching birds as they take cover while the rain is on, then pop out and get busy as soon as it stops. And rainbows appear.
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| The grass at the end of the rainbow - nothing there |
When a shower passed by last week, I noticed a skylark collecting food and watched it fly twice into the same tussock of grass. So I was certain that there was something there and began to walk over to investigate. Then another sharp shower flashed over and a rainbow curved down into the spot where the skylark had been.
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| Yes there is - three skylark chicks in their nest |
At first glance there was nothing to see at the bottom of the rainbow, but the treasure lay hidden. I parted the grass and there it was, a brood of three skylark chicks, all warm and cosy, and keeping still and quiet to hide from me, a potential predator.
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| A brood of three, well feathered with still some wisps of down |
I closed the grass up over them and left them to it. They would fledge in a day or so, scattering through the grass to separate hiding places for safety, and their parents would fly to each in turn to feed them until they became independent - a further strategy for protection from predators. Ground-nesting birds need to be cautious.
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| It's the eye that breaks the camouflage |
