The Narrative
   The afternoon sat at a breezy 16°C, though a 10–15 mph westerly wind dropped the real feel closer to 13°C. Still, the sun made regular appearances, and the rain held off.
   The walk began with a grim sight: a pigeon that had sadly fallen victim to roadkill near the recreation ground. Things picked up at the town football ground, where a flock of rooks was busy foraging on the turf. Entering the recreation ground, I crossed paths with a family walking a large, white-muzzled poodle. Beyond them, a cricket match was in full swing, quietly observed by a spectator and their exceptionally well-behaved black Labrador. In the hedge bordering the cemetery, a lively flock of about 10 sparrows darted in and out of the brush.

   Stepping through the cemetery gates, I caught the quick flash of a dunnock diving for cover under a shrub. A solitary wood pigeon watched from a nearby ledge, while various corvids patrolled the grassy verges along the central pathway.
   At the top of the cemetery, the empty field was a bustling avian dining room. Wood pigeons heavily outnumbered the local rooks and jackdaws, while another dunnock worked the base of the hedgerow. A lone, hefty herring gull took flight the moment I appeared, triggering a chain reaction.

    Within minutes, my presence cleared the field; the wood pigeons and jackdaws scattered to the winds, leaving only a stubborn line of rooks sentry-perched on the distant telegraph wires.
   Heading back down the cemetery road, the wind had whipped up a proper roar, whistling fiercely through the holm oaks and pine needles overhead. After pausing to photograph a charming little pocket of wildflowers by the main road, I reached the leisure centre. There, an unlikely trio—a feral pigeon, a corvid, and a gull—sat perfectly lined up along the rooftop to see me home.

Metric activity Log
Distance 1.7 miles
Duration 35 minutes
Google Fit Effort 24 Heart Points
Weather 16°C (Felt like 13–14°C), windy but dry with sunny intervals
Key Sightings
Rooks, Jackdaws, Wood Pigeons,

Copyright ©️ Text, photographs and videos Written by John Yeo – All rights reserved.