When I left the house today, the sun was shining but the temperature felt much colder due to the wind. For instance, with temperatures around 3-4°C, it felt like -2°C to -4°C because of strong easterly winds gusting up to 35-60 km/h, making it feel significantly colder than the actual air temperature.

  A young lady passed me walking a lively Cocker Spaniel. I continued towards Foxglove Lane, where I spotted a pair of wood pigeons perched on a rooftop. A couple with a Cockapoo-type dog were near the children’s playground as I walked towards the recreation ground.

  A group of six rooks flew noisily overhead towards the golf course, cawing loudly. Shortly afterwards, another group of about a dozen rooks followed them, flying in the same direction. When I arrived at the entrance to the cemetery road, I noticed that my friend the Pitbull was sitting in his garden, quietly regarding me as I passed by.

  I began to walk around the cemetery pathways, where a profusion of various species of birdlife was present. A pair of small sparrow-like birds flew into the hedge adjoining the playing field. A couple of wood pigeons were flying backwards and forwards around a hedge belonging to a nearby house; I wondered if the occupants had put some bird food out. A male blackbird quickly flew into a nearby rowan tree as I approached.

  Suddenly, with a clamour of loud, harsh, grating, vocal confusion, about 70 rooks rose in a large black cloud from the rookery treetops and began flying around. I took a photograph of a few of them. I headed towards the cemetery gates and spotted a male blackbird chasing another male blackbird towards the hedgerow bordering the allotment site. 

  Then, I stopped to take some beautiful photographs of early snowdrops in flower along the border.

  I left the cemetery and continued along the cemetery road, where I watched two wood pigeons furiously pecking at each other. They both flew away when I walked past. I guess the birds are already staking out their territory before the upcoming spring season arrives.

 I walked past the leisure centre, where I noticed a couple of feral pigeons settled on the roof. Ten dunnocks were perched on the top of a hawthorn hedge adjacent to the care home. I watched a large flock of feral pigeons in the distance flying around the abandoned factory rooftop they use for a colony.

  I continued along the way and met Sophie, a neighbour, walking her extremely lively Cavapoo.

Today, I walked for 1.46 miles in 29 minutes. Google Fit awarded me 23 heart points.

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