In the nearby paddock I hear them their distinct calls ring through the night <br />Perhaps a dog or cat or fox is passing and they scream at him in the moonlight <br />With a nest to defend they feel anxious and their eggs not well hidden away <br />For a hungry fox a tasty morsel as he is out hunting for prey. <br /> <br />The birds known as the spur winged plovers are wary through Winter and Spring <br />In the nearby paddock I hear them their call to it has an aggressive ring <br />For their eggs or their young they do worry and their territory they defend <br />And they scream loudly in the face of danger and no passer by is their friend. <br /> <br />When the plovers in the paddock are calling perhaps there is danger nearby <br />One hear them call out in the moonlight as above their borders they fly <br />They won't tolerate an intruder they dive bomb the dog from the sky <br />And they will remain ever vigilant until their young have learned how to fly. <br /> <br />I hear them call out in the paddock their voices one can never mistake <br />All through the months of Winter and Spring they always seem so wide awake <br />They protect the next generation and make sure that their genes will live on <br />And others will hear the spur winged plovers when to the reaper I am gone.<br /><br />Francis Duggan<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-plovers-in-the-paddock/
