The Blackbird
This is a blackbird’s egg. Male blackbirds live up to their name but, females are brown. The bright yellow beak and eye make a dramatic contrast with the black feathers of the adult male bird. The beautiful song of the blackbird is often heard in urban areas and transforms places that would otherwise be dull and dreary. The blackbird is one of the commonest UK birds, with a recent estimate of 4,700,000 pairs. However, there may have been about a 33 per cent decline over the last 25 years.
The story of St Kevin and blackbird has become well known in recent years, partly because Seamus Heaney has written a poem about the incident in which a blackbird landed on one of the saint’s hands while he was praying and built a nest – it even laid a clutch of eggs. Being kind and thoughtful St Kevin kept his arm outstretched until the eggs had hatched and the birds had flown the nest. The story is very similar to that of St Malo and wren which is retold elsewhere in this calendar
The saints and monks of the early Irish church seem to have been fond of this bird. One monk, as he was labouriously copying out a grammar book, broke off to write a poem of his own:
A hedge of trees surrounds me,
A blackbird sings to me –
Praise which I will not hide!
Above my book, lined parchment,
The trilling of the birds sings to me!
Reading:
‘Praise the LORD from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,young men and maidens,
old men and children.Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for his name alone is exalted;his splendour is above the earth and the heavens.’
(Psalm 148. 7-13)
Prayer:
‘Lord Jesus, we thank you that however small and guilty we seem in our own eyes, yet you continue to love and accept us as a member of your community. Amen.’
