Ornithologising

Words by Greg Michaelson. Music by Catherine Eunson.

Ornithologising

They say we're naught but twitchers. They say we're naught but nerds.
They say we don't have time to talk; we don't have time for words.
Our only friends are feathery; our only friends are birds.
When we set off an ornithologising.

There are great tits, blue tits, ravens, crows and owls.
There are blackbirds, jackdaws, sparrows, larks and gulls.
There are kestrels, eagles, kites and water fowl.
When we set off an ornithologising.

I spend all day beside a lathe, assembling cuckoo clocks.
The lass that carves the wooden birds, likes knitting stripy socks.
She says one day we'll build a nest and raise our own wee flock.
And we'll set off an ornithologising.

There are coots and moorhens, herons, cranes and storks.
There are magpies, goldfinch, hen harriers and hawks.
There are spoonbills, osprey, greylag geese and auks.
When we set off an ornithologising.

We'll ramble by the Figgate Burn, binoculars in hand.
We'll ramble down Cockenzie way, along the golden sand.
We'll ramble up on Blackford Hill, our bonnie birding band,
When we set off an ornithologising.

There are pigeons, partridge, ptarmigan and wrens.
There are peacock, robins, cormorants and hens.
There are doves and curlew, our soaring squawking friends,
When we set off an ornithologising.

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