Sights To See

I was surprised and delighted when the crop planted in the fields behind Scatterdells Lane turned out not to be oil seed rape but turnips planted as winter feed for sheep.The sheep arrived just before Christmas and put a new context on my early morning walk.Ted, our young Labrador, soon touched the electric fence and learned to respect it. He is used to our sheep , and they are used to him so neither gets excited at the sight of the other.These sheep were very timid though, and to start with they would race off to the far side of the field as soon as they saw us coming. Ted was rather bemused by this. Was it something he said, or were we using the wrong soap? Now, three months on, they are quite used to us and do not bat an eyelid as we go past.
The sheep are not the only ones who have enjoyed the turnips; great flocks of woodpigeons would take off as we walk along while fieldfares and redwings search among the trampled turnips for grubs and insects.The fieldfare numbers had been increasing in the last few weeks, probably driven across the North Sea by the harsh weather in Scandinavia. On Saturday 4 March as I walked along the path early on a crisp bright morning, the field was alive,not just with sheep,but birds. Maybe 500-700 in three or four distinct groups. Some were fieldfares but the majority were not, and they were just too far away to see clearly with the naked eye.Ted and I ran home for the binoculars and a bird book. I was anxious to get back before the path was busy with dog walkers and the birds were flown! Annoyingly, when we got back all of the groups had moved further away from the path and now I could not really see them even with binoculars. About turn and home for husband David and his telescope!
The telescope was just the job, but with more people about the birds were getting restless and some groups were taking flight. They wheeled around in tight flocks, their brilliant white under parts caught by the sun,with odd birds making a musical piping sound that made me think of moorland and curlews. Through the telescope we could see beautiful golden speckled plumage, darker wings, longish black legs,dark eyes, and slender dark bills. They moved over the ground with a sort of run-pause-bob movement like lap- wings. Some sort of plover I thought. Old age is a terrible thing and in my haste I had not even thought of my much needed reading glasses.The book was pocket sized and the print so small...Then up and away the birds were flown!
Back home, over a bowl of hot porridge and with bigger books and spectacles, all was revealed. Golden Plovers, probably from Scandinavia, sporting their winter plumage. What a lovely sight they were. I saw them again on the Sunday,when I am up even earlier. They were close to the path and I had taken the bins , so I got another good look.
I used to laugh at my Dad when he lost or forgot his specs,now I know how it feels, and he is sitting on his cloud, laughing at me! Wendy Bathurst