Angry gulls

Sometimes I'm amazed how regular our lives are, even though we're theoretically less constrained by timetables and routines than many people. This afternoon we went to Spalding to discuss Christmas arrangements with Pete's Mum, and I found out that exactly a year ago we were doing the very same thing! The only difference was that this year it was just the three of us, as Alex was at college.

After dropping him at the station, I took the dogs to Ferry Meadows for a good run, in the hope that this would balance out the cake and suasage rolls I knew they would receive later in the day (Pete's Mum spoils them abominably!). The light was quite beautiful, and there were plenty of birds around including fieldfares gorging themselves on hawthorn berries, a jay, a green woodpecker and several charms of goldfinches.

The black-headed gulls are always present, but as I walked past these two were clearly having a disagreement. Their body language and vocalisations portrayed real irritation, and just before I took this image, the gull on the right had launched an aerial attack on the other one. I'm not sure what was behind it all, but I assume the one on the right was the victor!