They alight in unison, fluff and without pause
or hesitation, the fledgling, still eager for
treats, begs; and the male, the skinny and bedraggled
parent bird, leaps away to forage in the hedge.
Brown, softly speckled, unlike the orange-beaked, black
adult, the juvenile yo-yos between the urge
to preen new feathers, or open the prodigious
yellow gape and wait impatiently for service.
They tweet each other and multi-tasking, the young
bird topples, takes alarmed flight, swiftly followed by
screeching parent with tell-tale empty, grubby beak.