Swans, geese and cranes

The warm weather has really retreated, and been replaced by a cold front. It's very windy again and only a couple of plus degrees so you need to be well wrapped up when out walking. However, the wind combined with the temperatures above freezing continues to melt the snow away.
As we walked out of the village (near the buildings on the left of the picture) we could hear the cacophony from the valley bottom. The noise came from the swans, geese and cranes, all feeding in the bottom of the valley. There was also a huge flock of lapwings(?) rising up and wheeling around before settling again, but they seemed to be silent.
I tried to circle around to get a more close-up picture but soft snow and very soggy ground kept me (and perhaps predators) away, and I ended up, still far away, on the far side of the valley from where I took this photo.
As you can see there's a lot of space between me and the birds but even so my presence made them nervous. The cranes took off and flew away to the left. The swans and geese slowly waddled away from me, heading up the far slope.
I left them to feed in peace and carried along the valley to the abandoned railway, which I followed to the road and then back home.
It wasn't such a long walk but together with the wind it really tired me out!