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The last day of February

Tilly and I saw the month out by having a lovely walk at lunchtime today.  We saw four hares  in one field, and then a deer, struggling to find its way out of another field.  She finally took a huge, graceful leap over the fence, another leap over the burn and then bounded away, out of sight.  

 I was already counting my lucky stars, having seen the hares and the deer, when about 50 or 60 chaffinches flew across in front of me.  They swooped up into the trees on my right, sat for a minute or two and then, with one accord, flew across the track and landed in the field, where they became completely invisible.  They flitted back and forth, from trees to field, wielding around together.  Not quite synchronised flying, but very nearly.  I have never seen so many chaffinches before, it was a wonderful sight.
I have heard of a charm of goldfinches and wondered what the collective noun would be for chaffinches.  It would seem that a charm applies to all finches, but then according to this lovely website http://www.britishbirdlovers.co.uk/articles/collective-nouns-for-birds#cbird, they can also be referred to as a trembling or a trimming of finches.  

 At the furthest point of our walk I could see the sea,
and at the bottom of the hill a series of road signs which covers pretty well everything, except for dogs.  Tilly was not impressed to have been left out.
And before home, the remains of winter, bleached and blowing in the wind,
followed by the glorious glow of dogwood.

Comments

  1. Unknown28 February 2015 at 22:15

    Charmed to "take a walk" with you today. I found you via On A Small Island blog, and will try to check in regularly. My wife and I live in Catoosa County, NW corner of the state of Georgia. We hope to visit your part of the world in a couple of years.

    ReplyDelete
  2. the running wave28 February 2015 at 22:27

    Very happy that enjoyed today's walk! If you explore past posts on therunningwave I hope you will discover that this part of Scotland is very beautiful! I hope, too, you and your wife enjoy your trip to this lovely country, when the time comes! Thank you for your message, and I hope you will visit again! Best wishes. A

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  3. SandyshoesCornwall17 March 2015 at 19:42

    I laughed out loud when I saw the frog road sign, when I was little my friend and I dreamed of being frog wardens to 'help a toad across the road'. This was an exciting idea to two girls who grew up surrounded by the streets of London! Antonia x

    ReplyDelete

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