Thursday walk

I was going to give the walk reports a bit of break, having posted quite a lot of photos of the same common reeds, and the local wildlife, over the past couple of weeks.  But this morning, despite a sharp frost, the sun was making a hazy appearance, and everything was just looking so lovely.  I am pretty sure the haze was not the smog the UK has been experiencing today, because it all cleared away as the sun got stronger.

The sights were great, but so were the sounds.  I could hear seagulls calling, curlews mewing, larks singing above, and lots of assorted twittering from the smaller birds.  

We were about to turn the corner at the bottom of the field, to walk up the side of the pine wood, and ahead of us there were these ladies!  Aren't they just fabulous?  I didn't want to spook them any further, so we changed our route, crossed a little wooden footbridge over the burn, and walked back along the edge of another field.

On the ground I saw a group of about 20 pied wagtails.  I looked up the collective noun - it's a volery of wagtails.  A volery is a flock of birds.  Not as romantic a description as for the exultation of skylarks I could hear overhead!

Altogether, today, we saw about ten hares.  There were three in the big field, running around in circles - just as you see them depicted in medieval art, and at the moment they seem to be buzzing around all over the place!  Look at the light in this hare's eye - so knowing, so keen, bright and intelligent.  He/she very kindly sat for a second or two to let me take a couple of photos, before shooting off into the cover, across the burn and off across the field beyond, with the rest of his gang.

As I walked home I reflected, as I always do, on how lucky I am to have all this on my doorstep.  To see and hear these wild creatures, just being in their habitat, is the most perfect way to start a new day.