Ruth Daniel
Well-known member
I wrote this passage after a walk last week. The birds are not all named as I was trying to depict the grey and gloom of the day.
Water was seeping noisily away into the saturated boggy ground and dirty puddles oozed slowly out of the muddy weedy verges.
Wildfowl appeared as dark silhouettes upon the grey cold water,occasionally rising in a flurry of feathers,dripping droplets from flashing wings beating increasingly faster as they rose from the surface only to land a few yards further on.
Webbed feet braking their clumsy performances while indignant quacks at their disturbance pierced the cold air.
A startled Heron rose with a harsh squawk from a ditch in the field alongside,large wings struggling to gain enough lift in the still of the morning as he dragged long trailing legs behind,he settled further on with a tremble of feathers and a flick of his crest.
Busy Waders of various shapes and sizes all knee deep in the muddy margins scurried around in their incessant search for food,a squabble causing wings and feet to be waved at various close encounters before their wanderings separated them again.
A large flock of twittering Finches flitted across our path and descended haphazardly onto the huge brown seed heads that cover large parts of the marsh, their gold and red colours only becoming visible from closer inspections as we continued slowly on our way.
Water was seeping noisily away into the saturated boggy ground and dirty puddles oozed slowly out of the muddy weedy verges.
Wildfowl appeared as dark silhouettes upon the grey cold water,occasionally rising in a flurry of feathers,dripping droplets from flashing wings beating increasingly faster as they rose from the surface only to land a few yards further on.
Webbed feet braking their clumsy performances while indignant quacks at their disturbance pierced the cold air.
A startled Heron rose with a harsh squawk from a ditch in the field alongside,large wings struggling to gain enough lift in the still of the morning as he dragged long trailing legs behind,he settled further on with a tremble of feathers and a flick of his crest.
Busy Waders of various shapes and sizes all knee deep in the muddy margins scurried around in their incessant search for food,a squabble causing wings and feet to be waved at various close encounters before their wanderings separated them again.
A large flock of twittering Finches flitted across our path and descended haphazardly onto the huge brown seed heads that cover large parts of the marsh, their gold and red colours only becoming visible from closer inspections as we continued slowly on our way.
