MULLION COVE, A PAINTING BY KATIE CANNON & WHEN I SAW CHOUGHS THERE...

Mullion Cove: Katie Cannon's Painting 

(& when I saw Choughs for the first time there…)

 

Mullion Cove was essentially calm:

Ironic on such a day;

Uncannily serene,

Too contained to explain.

Tide spookily irascible,

Thrashed awhile, for sure,

Before enticing me to harbour’s arm

And twisting surf’s bitter disdain.

Dedicated eyes were averted then,

From the mesmeric lure of the sea,

By the dramatic movements and resonant calls

Of birds alighting on an adjacent cliff.

Entranced, the realisation dawned

That these were Cornish Choughs:

A feeding pair and fussing,

Engrossed in a domestic tiff…

Sleek, black bodies, crimson legs,

Tell-tale, angled red beaks;

They dabbed at the grasses,

Their shrieks plaintive and shrill.

Tiny pebbles tumbled in rushes,

As I stood totally askance;

Disbelieving, staggered, fortunate,

Scarcely breathing, I stood fascinated, still…

Pete Ray

Only had a basic camera when I saw the Choughs on that day at Mullion Cove in 2008…

The evidence was clear though and Katie Cannon’s painting brought back the memory…