They said there would be mist, and lo and behold, there was mist. The thick, dull covering of off white haze enveloped the landscape, reducing the golden horizon to a faded memory of yesterday. The proximates of the day however, carried with them a serene sense of peace, wrapping me in a pleasant outdoor isolation while presenting the perfect ambiance for a weekend walk.
I didn’t have to travel far to be immersed in a myriad of wild life as the carparks were brimming with a bustling menagerie of birds. An army of Wood Pigeons stalked amongst the grass pecking with precision for a morning meal, Pied wagtails explored the concrete with their tails waggling merrily while a group of Chaffinches, with their kaleidoscopic colours back lit by the dull fog, and Great tits, with their thick black band of colour interjecting the pale yellows of their chests, chatted amongst the skeletal branches of Ash. Joining them in their morning discussions were rotund Robins, flitting Goldfinches, cackling Magpies and the shrill, loud and proud song of a Wren. It just goes to show that you don’t always have go far to see wildlife and to paraphrase Dick Jones of OCP “Good nature is where you find it.”
Elsewhere among the eerie ghost fog a squadron of Jackdaws flitted across the sky with a bunch of Starlings hot on their tails. Crows and Ravens squawked and cronked in the midst of a family argument while a Kestrel floated above them scouring the ground for any small mammal movement. A multi-coloured flash caught my beady eye as a Jay zoomed through the tree tops on important bird business with no time to stop for a friendly chat. Blue tits and Dunnocks opportunely perused the hedgerows without a care in the world while a sassy Rabbit flashed his white rump at me before scurrying off in to the scrub. To top it all off I was fortunate enough to finish off my walk with a nice chat with a wild Alfie taking his human, Harry, for a walk.