Birds

Pete and Chris had been commissioned to survey an agricultural drain near Cambridge (really far too late in the year) so I agreed to drive them down as long as we could go to Wicken Fen afterwards. The weather was bright and very, very  breezy, and I'm afraid I stayed in the car while they worked. 

It was a short drive to Wicken, where we had a very tasty lunch before going on a good, albeit somewhat slippery walk round Adventurer's Fen. I'd been hoping for a starling murmuration, but although we saw a few flocks there was no sign of a big gathering - we were either in the wrong place or it was just too windy for them and they were dropping straight into the reeds. 

What I hadn't been expecting was to find a huge corvid roost - thousands of mixed rooks and jackdaws which swirled over us like something out of 'The Birds'. Not only was this a splendid sight, but the sound of them all calling to each other was also awesome. 

This was an experimental shot taken hand held with a slow shutter speed, and which might almost qualify for Abstract Thursday. There is a more normal shot of the birds in extras, which also shows the newly constructed bridge that goes over a public right of way and allows the free-ranging herd of Konik's ponies and Highland cattle to graze over the southern part of the site unhindered.