Daily Nature Log

 .   The wind was biting from the west-northwest, but the sunshine offered a warm cover, pushing temperatures to a cool 13°C. My approach instantly set off two crows, which bolted into the high pines, while four startled wood pigeons scattered in all directions.
    Heading across the recreation ground towards the cemetery, a flock of at least twenty corvids erupted into the sky, their loud, chaotic caws filling the air as they climbed high into the blue. Only one fearless crow held its ground, fixing me with an intense, unblinking stare as I walked past.
    Moments later, the cemetery’s rookery exploded—a dark, swirling cloud of roughly sixty rooks taking flight in a sudden panic, though whatever spooked them remained a mystery. Nearby, ten feral pigeons stood strict guard along the leisure centre rooftop, while a lone gull and a wood pigeon kept watch from a neighbouring house.
   Further on, six starlings shot off towards the golf club as a solitary gull drifted effortlessly over the greens. Down on the town football pitch, ten corvids and another wood pigeon pecked at the turf, and finally, a pair of magpies rattled down onto a noisy, windswept wire fence.

Stats:
Distance: 2.4 miles
Time: 53 minutes
Google Fit: 26 Heart Points.

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