Country diary: lapwings flock together in a great, morphing mass

Otley, West Yorkshire: Lapwing flight is sometimes mischaracterised as clumsy, but this group reveals enormous powers of control and coordinationThe sun sets the water ablaze, creating a dazzling trail of Greek fire, the light glittering as it bounces off the breeze-ruffled surface into my squinting eyes. I wish there was some way of distilling that molten brightness and drinking it; it is such a potent antidote to the past few days, which were hardly days at all, just a few hours of sickly gloom while the valley festered under cloud and murk.December can be a squalid month: dark, muddy, windy, waterlogged. The pocket of Wharfedale where I am living is overshadowed by the Chevin escarpment, and the sun barely creeps above it at this time of year. When a bright day finally materialises, I feel a vital urge to bask in the sunlight, and will spend as much time as possible between work manoeuvring myself into the valley's high places, open spaces and sun traps. Continue reading...