Birds out of Context

It is December and today I heard a Skylark singing.
I have previously heard them in the winter, in fact, one year I listened to an individual on New Year's Day. This particular instance is very much a response to the extraordinarily mild weather we are experiencing. Today, the sun shone and the temperature rose, such that, I worked my allotment without a jacket.
Saturday saw me once again in Belgium. Driving back and upon joining a motorway I had to look twice to confirm that what I was looking at was a group of half a dozen Curlew. These birds were feeding on a grassy area of only about twenty meters width lying between the motorway and the access road. Oblivious to vehicles speeding past on either side, they clearly were able to find plenty of food.
For me the Curlew represents summer in the wild areas of the Black Mountains of Wales, where their calls in the early morning would welcome me to the hills. Otherwise, they can be seen wintering on the coast. I never expected to see them on the verge of a motorway.
But my surprise had hardly subsidised when I saw a Cattle Egret in a field beside the road. The last time I saw one of these birds was in October in South Africa.
It rained yesterday. There was hardly a cloud in the sky and the nearest must have been some five miles distant, yet, as I crossed the field with Dylan and Stuart, the latter pointed out that there was rain falling. It was only when I shaded my eyes and looked towards the sun, that, sure enough, drops of rain could be seen descending.