Today started damp, dark, drizzmal. The mountain was shrouded in low heavy, moisture laden mist, the sort that clings to your skin and whatever you're wearing ... gets wet! And all that before it started to rain ... again! We got soaked this morning and apart from hanging outdoor clothes on various hooks to dry, it stayed that way, all bloomin' day! There was no chance of any photographs, so I've had to rely on yesterdays ...
<<< this was one of the many photographs taken yesterday. Sultry skies, threatening rain and yet in-between the dark clouds there were rays of highlighting sunshine. It really was a mix and match day.
Underneath dark clouds, the sun managed to cast it's rays on the landscape, highlighting the mountain in brightness.
What seemed a fairly peaceful scene was almost immediately changed into one of darkness and then ... light again. Trying to capture all the moods of yesterdays skies was challenging. The scene in front of me was different from that of behind and then suddenly vice versa. But one thing really caught my eye ... flocks of jackdaws.
They were doing aerobatics in three separate formations over the fields and ... somewhat unusually ... silent. It was almost as if they were just enjoying flying. The three different "squadrons" flew almost ground level through the grazing sheep and the lifted high in quite an amazing ariel display. They sped through a gap between the Sitka Spruce and even daringly dive bombed the quietly grazing cattle.
In the flock above, which I enlarged, I counted approximately 350 jackdaws
which means that there were about 1000 flying locally last night, so the numbers are increasing from last year. But as mentioned in a post on October 26th last year "Night Natterers" they are not roosting in the trees in the quarry behind us. So one has to wonder ... where are they spending their nights now? Things are quieter around here and in a strange way, I miss waking up to the sounds of them nattering away about their flying displays and adventurous days . The sparrows in next doors eves are more monotoneous and less jocular about life and another of my favourite birds is less heard at night, the owls
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