little sparrow
I regret nothing
flowers in the wind
haiku by Alan Summers
Publication credits: haijinx volume IV, issue 1 (2011)
turn in the weather . . .
a house sparrow sings
like buddha
Alan Summers
Anthology credits:
1. Amaravati Poetic Prism 2016 Curated by: Padmaja Iyengar
Publisher: Cultural Centre of Vijayawada & Amaravati (CCVA), Vijayawada
2. EarthRise Rolling Haiku Collaboration 2017 Reconciliation (pub. The Haiku Foundation)
summer wind
a sparrow re-rights itself
at the peanut cage
haiku by Alan Summers
Publication credits: Azami ed. Ikkoku Santo (Japan, 1997); Snapshots 10 (2004); tinywords (2007)
Anthology credit: Wing Beats: British Birds in Haiku (Snapshot Press 2008); Haiku Friends Vol. 3, ed. Masaharu Hirata (Japan 2009); Inking Bitterns ed. Dru Marland (Gert Macky Books, December 2013); EarthRise Rolling Haiku Collaboration 2016 Foodcrop Haiku (pub. The Haiku Foundation)
World Sparrow Day: March 20, 2012
The
World Sparrow Day (WSD) is not just a one-day celebration of the
ubiquitous, but fast-disappearing sparrow, but an attempt by us to bring
sparrow lovers and nature supporters on a common platform, and kick
off a conservation movement to save the common flora and fauna of the
world.
While
commendable attention has been paid by experts as well as the
government to conserve endangered and exotic wildlife species like the
tigers and elephants, common animals, birds and plants suffer a bleak
future due of general neglect and oversight.
The
pace at which our immediate environment is degrading, our common
species may find their way into the endangered list before we even know
it. Spreading awareness about the significance of common birds, animals
and plants at this juncture is very important.
Bearing this in mind, our theme for WSD this year is called ‘Chirp for the sparrow! Tweet for the sparrow!’
This is a call to you, our friends across the world – individuals,
institutes, companies and experts – to spread the word to save the
sparrow and other common species. You can do it easily, by using your
everyday communication devices: your mobile phones, emails, telephones
as well as sharing thought on websites, social networking sites, blogs
and every other possible platform.
What you can do?
* Make the WSD logo your profile picture and the WSD website your homepage.
We
encourage you to make the WSD logo your profile picture on social
networking sites (like Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, etc.), as well as your
messenger and chat accounts. Make the WSD website
(www.worldsparrowday.org) your homepage on your personal computer.
You
can also use our photos on social networking sites circulate them as
emails and request people to participate in our cause. We request you to
include our logos in all your WSD related messages, activities and
information materials. You can download the logos and limited images
free-of-charge from the Nature Forever Society website since they have
been produced for the sole purpose of spreading awareness of the day.
* Donate your profile photo to WSD
You can also donate your own photographs to help us spread the message on the WSD event.
* Write blogs
We
request you to write blogs on the need to conserve sparrows and other
common species of birds, animals and plants! Saving common species of
flora and fauna is as vital to the ecological balance of earth as
conservation of endangered species. Or else, considering the pace of
degradation of natural resources, it won't be long before the common
species become endangered. (A case in point is the Indian Vulture: a
once widespread species now on the brink of extinction).
Your blogs, highlighting this fact, will help and guide millions of like-minded people across the globe to join our movement.
* Forward SMS and emails
Use
your mobile phone to send SMS, informing people to join the worldwide
WSD movement on March 20, 2011. You can also send emails to your
friends, acquaintances and professional contacts, spreading awareness
to join this cause by doing their bit. You can direct them to visit
www.worldsparrowday.org for more information.
* Make movies/documentaries
You can make short movies and documentaries and upload it on WSD’s
Facebook page
* Tweet on WSD
Make your friendly-neighborhood sparrow an online celebrity! Tweet about them on Twitter!
* Share your story
Have a real life story, an essay, a fable, a fiction or a poem on the sparrows? You can post them on our Facebook group.
* Take out a sparrow procession
This
may be one of the best ways to raise awareness on WSD. Take groups of
school and college students, animal lovers, homemakers and general
enthusiasts on sparrow processions. Kids are the future of our nation,
and their involvement is vital in reviving the population of sparrows
as well as conserving the ecology.
* Organise events in schools
WSD
activities can take place both indoors and outdoors. Schools,
parks, town halls, education centres and nature reserves are all places
where events can be hosted. Interesting outdoor activities like bird
watching tours and educational workshops as well as indoor programmes
like dramas, festivals, exhibitions, painting and photo competitions
will raise awareness. Bird watching is a fun way of making children
identify and relate with their natural habitats. It will help raise
overall awareness on the issue and help us find possible solutions to
reduce the threats facing sparrows.
For
older students, indoor programmes like drawing and painting competition
on the theme "Chirp for the Sparrow! Tweet for the Sparrow!" can be
organised by housing societies, schools and colleges. Students can also
be asked to make creative posters on sparrows and their habitats.
For school-going students, drama and poetry competitions with
references to the barriers to conservation and how to overcome them,
may be organised.
We
request all nature lovers and mindful citizens to join with us and
CHIRP FOR THE SPARROW! TWEET FOR THE SPARROW! A small step by you will
go a long way in spreading the message on sparrows and the need to save
them.
The common sparrow -- found across Asia, Europe and Africa, in
urban as well as rural landscapes -- is a true blue symbol of the
‘beauty of the ordinary’ and we have been celebrating this diminutive
bird with a string of awareness and conservation activities,
culminating into the World Sparrow Day on March 20, since last year.
This year, our annual World Sparrow Day event will reinstate the
significance not only of the sparrow, but all the common birds and
biodiversity which are often overlooked and abused by virtue of being
too commonplace.
Initially called the World House Sparrow Day, this international
initiative was launched in 2010, by Nature Forever Society, in
collaboration with the Eco-Sys Action Foundation (France), Avon Wildlife
Trust (UK) and some other national and international organisations.
In 2011, respecting the views of a large number of bird
lovers and environment enthusiasts who wrote to us, we decided to
expand our sphere to celebrate not only the house sparrow – but the 26
species of sparrows found across the globe.
Interestingly, in one of its firsts, Nature Forever
Society will soon showcase exclusive photographs and information on as
many as 22 of the 26 species of sparrows on its website
www.natureforever.com and the dedicated interactive website
www.worldsparrowday.org.
We are among the first organisations in the world to have collected
such a wide range of photographs of the sparrow species – many of which
are elusive and not as conspicuous as the house sparrow. We believe
that this effort, in itself, is a feat worth celebration.
