Esther Chilton’s word prompt for this week is flying. You can join in here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2026/02/04/word-prompts-2/
These two poems are also for Don’t Hold Your Breath blog’s Bird of the Week challenge here: https://anotherglobaleater.wordpress.com/2026/02/10/red-tailed-shrike-birds-of-the-week-invitation-cliv/

European Bee Eater
perched on a branch
watching
waiting
for its favourite meal
to fly past
a bee sighted
it opens
its richly coloured wings
and snatches it
right out of the air
delicious!
European Bee Eater (tanka)
bee captured midair
bashed mercilessly on branch
dislodging stinger
bee eater consumes hundreds
of insects during its lifetime
d’Verse – Flower Contrast(quadrille)
De Jackson (aka WhimsyGizmo)’s d’Verse quadrille challenge is to write a poem featuring flowers in exactly 44 words. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/02/09/quadrille-241-swearing-by-all-flowers/
In the wetlands, the flowers are wild
Unexpected splashes of colour
Against olive or veridian green
Tasty treats for hungry kudu
***
At the Johannesburg Country Club
The flowers are cultivated
Carefully tended and fertilized
Resulting in large, ostentatious blooms
Aimed at decorating and impressing
The slideshow below includes 1. Flame Lillies in the Isimangaliso Wetlands 2. Male kudu eating in the Isimangaliso Wetlands 3. pink roses and the country club 4. red wild rose at the country club
CFFC
Dan’s challenge this week is inventions. You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/02/09/starting-with-inventions-cffc/
I’m sharing my photographs from Brussels of Neuhaus. This chocolatier claims to be the inventor of the praline.
The slideshow below includes pictures of Neuhaus in Brussels, Gallery Royal Saint Hubert, the inventors of the praline. I’ve also included my photograph of Neuhaus moulded in chocolate and also three large chocolate smurfs. Smurfs are very big in Brussels.










I particularly like the tanka and the quadrille. That’s too much chocolate, even for me!
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Thanks, Liz. The busts are real chocolate but are for display purposes.
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Wonderful poetry, gorgeous flowers and some very sweet inventions. Great post, Robbie.
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Thanks, Dan. I really like the chocolate smurfs 😉
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The bee eater is very colorful and apparently a good bee catcher!
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Hi Brad, apparently bees comprise most (98%) of this birds diets. Removing the stinger is a great adaption by nature.
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Love your bee poems 😎
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Thank you, Diana 🙏
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Great poetry, Robbie! I especially like the tanka. What a clever bird to dislodge the stinger before trying to eat the bee.
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Hi Priscilla, I wrote the tanks just to share that bit of info 😉. I couldn’t work it into the first poem without ruining the flow 💗
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Beautiful poetry and accompanying photos, Robbie 👍👍👍😍
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Hi Michael, I thought you’d like the bird 🌞😊
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Definitely. A bird we see lots during migration and we also get them breeding in some years.
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Beautiful poems Robbie.
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Thank you, Maggie
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Praline? (swoon) Bee eating birds? (to each their own) Flame Lillies resemble hot air balloons!!
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Yes, the flame lilies do look like hot air balloons 🎈. Thanks, Annnette 🥰
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Your photos of birds are great, and I always learn something.
Wildflowers definitely fit more comfortably into their environments than cultivated ones do. (K)
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Hi Kerfe, I was thrilled to see the European bee catcher and get a decent shot. I do enjoy flower gardens but they are far removed from nature.
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Lovely poetry and fantastic pictures, Roberta!
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Thank you, Tim 💜
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You’re very welcome, Roberta. 😍
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Those are beautiful poems and a great response to Esther’s Flying prompt.
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Thank you, Thomas 🌈
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Keen observation of nature!
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Thank you
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Love the juxtaposition/contrast of the flowers…some meant to be cultivated and admired, some meant to be grown wild and eaten. All equally meaningful and beautiful.
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