We breakfast to the sound of larks singing and gunshots in the distance (it is Thursday); it is misty and we drive slowly back along the tracks towards the main road, looking for birds as usual. Things are much the same as yesterday, with fewer starlings and gulls, and more egrets and golden plover, plus a corn bunting sitting on the barbed wire fence and seeming reluctant to move as we approached.
In one field there are some cows with very young calves, and also a number of cattle egrets hunched up against the morning. The egrets have a heavy‑jowled, grouchy appearance that is matched by their complaining voice and reluctance to 'get out of bed' at a decent hour. One calf, only a day or so old and not quite sure how far its nose is in front of its eyes, finds itself surrounded by egrets.
The calf tentatively tries to find its way out of the circle but the egrets are in the way. It approaches one egret, which shuffles off, making the calf jump back. It approaches another, which waves its beak threateningly and again the calf backs off. After several minutes ‑ in sheer desperation and probably with its eyes closed ‑ it charges back to mum, sending egrets scattering faster than they wanted to go. Another calf, a day or two older and by now an old hand, charges around, threatening a few birds which shuffled out of the way in disgust at the disturbance.
The roads take us around the estuary to an area of cork oak wood pasture. A few horses graze the sparse grass and the sandy soil looks as though it could not support much more. There are also patches of heather and gorse, and a group of woodlark feed alongside a bare track through the pasture.
No comments:
Post a Comment