Taking Trouble With Lichen

This bumbarrel, as John Clare calls long-tailed-tits because of their barrel-shaped nests, didn't flit away but hung around. I wondered why. When I looked at my pic on screen I could see that it has a beak full of lichen. These little birds start building their domed nests early using moss, hair and gossamer and line them with over 1500 feathers. They then plaster the outside of the structure with lichen, which acts as camouflage. The bird must have a nearly complete nest nearby but I doubt that I'll be able to spot it.

Sort of pleased that my title slightly ties in with International Womens' Day. I haven't read John Wyndham's sci-fi book but I know that it features a female scientist and has a feminist theme. I've been looking at the Google Doodle and it's bugging me that I can't find out what plane Egyptian aviator Lotfia ElNadi used to fly.  
 
Today's poem is Of The Moon by Charles Best. http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/best01.html

I like this sonnet, there's no ambiguity about it. Romantic love wasn't known as mooning and spooning for nothing. :)