Rooks

Above the farmhouse there is a large stand of beech trees that grow up a steep bank and overlook the river valley. Each evening, especially in the winter, hundreds of rooks return from their day-time feeding grounds and congregate in the trees. They come in waves, continually calling as they jostle for position in the top branches. When they have all returned, the cawing goes up a notch and then at once they all take off and move down the valley to some more trees where they roost. This photo shows only a small section of the sky which was filled with a swirling mass of raucous rooks.