Country diary: Chinooks send pigeons into a panicked swirl

Alnmouth, Northumberland: Meanwhile, dragonflies zap about as they hover and swoop above the furry reedmace heads, the Chinooks of the marshAt low tide the Aln runs deep between the sloping banks of the estuary. Reflections lie with barely a ripple across the smooth water: a stationary heron, a jaunty red buoy, the cross on top of Church Hill. The river's course once looped around this little hill before the Christmas Day storm of 1806 that forced a new and more direct channel. The knoll was cut off from the village and the busy harbour that exported grain was silted up.Alnmouth became a Victorian resort of converted granaries and balconied villas with oriel windows and rooftop conservatories. There's a holiday feel today as I look up at the varied rooflines zigzagging against a cornflower blue sky. From the estuary and saltmarsh comes the piping of an oystercatcher and a flock of lapwings flash white and black. Two Chinook helicopters pass low over the beach, sending pigeons into a panicked swirl. Continue reading...