Spring feeling!

After the big bang!

 

Quay witnesses!

 

Titchwell Marsh (2)

 

There is a distinctive atmosphere about Titchwell Marsh Nature Reserve:  an almost reverential hush punctuated by the evocative call of the curlew.   There is  even, with the isolated exception, an absence of mobile phones!  Voices are mezzo piano rather than forte.  Movements are unrushed and controlled to avoid disruption or distraction.  There is a tacit acknowledgement that we are in the birds’ domain and it is a privilege to be admitted.

Regrettably, the quality of the photos is not good.  They were taken on a grey day with a handheld compact camera and most of the birds were at least 100 yards away.  But I hope they convey  something of the sense of place.

 

 

When Spring is in the air …..

The day the starlings came

There was something ominous, something almost sinister about the arrival of the starlings  –  something that revived memories of Hitchcock.  They came in waves, wave upon wave, thick clouds of black dots swirling in the breeze, before they alighted in the top branches of every available tree.  Their energies restored, they flew down to the sheep field which they attacked with the vigour and enthusiasm of an over-charged vacuum cleaner  –  much to the consternation of the resident bird population.

Birds of a feather

Perched quietly in the topmost branches, I thought when they arrived they were rooks.  I’m not so sure now.  Even so, I liked the picture they created and enjoyed their prolonged stillness in the late afternoon sunshine on a warm Spring day.

Birds of a feather