{"id":883,"date":"2007-07-07T23:07:50","date_gmt":"2007-07-07T22:07:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.permuted.org.uk\/photography\/archives\/883"},"modified":"2013-11-24T19:04:36","modified_gmt":"2013-11-24T19:04:36","slug":"the-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.permuted.org.uk\/photography\/the-birds\/","title":{"rendered":"The Birds!"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

Do you remember Alfred Hitchcocks' 'The Birds'? Great film, and today's adventures in the garden brought it to mind. <\/p>\n

<\/span> The day started with a collared dove sitting prettily on our roof. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span> And then a wood pigeon visited the pond<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span> Swifts were flitting overhead, and a kestrel cruised by (emptied clawed).<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>A peregrine followed soon after<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span> The next sighting was the kestrel carrying its prey (previous post)<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span> And then the return of the peregrine<\/span><\/p>\n

The raptors were clearly busy, enjoying the first real sunshine we've had for several weeks. All very worthy, but not exactly Hitchcock territory. That came later.<\/p>\n

And for Hitchcock, think 'Gulls'. Screaming, flocking, swooping gulls. I'm not sure what set them off but in the middle of a quiet afternoon's gardening the local gulls began to gather. Circling a few hundred yards away, they were calling to every gull in the area. And they came. <\/p>\n

<\/span> From all directions, gulls were appearing in the sky, joining the circling frenzy.<\/span><\/p>\n

At first I though maybe a stray raptor had come in too low (the gulls have chicks right now), but the more we watched the less likely that seemed. The gulls screamed and darted, occasionally breaking off into localised spats. The main target is the darker bird in these shots. It appears to be a juvenile gull (correction welcome if I'm wrong about that).<\/p>\n

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<\/span> The gulls maintained the mass circling for about 45 minutes, covering about a mile from start to finish point. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span> They totally ignored the occasional passing raptor. <\/span><\/p>\n

A short video clip (worth it just for the sounds). Click the 'start' button to start the video.<\/span><\/p>\n


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