Stubble comes alive

The farmer has not as yet reached the fields in front of the house, so they remain stubble. As Dylan (the dog) ran over the fields yesterday, he set up a host of skylarks (I estimate at least one hundred individuals). Then came a flock of around thirty linnets, a smattering of meadow pipits their distinctive piping notes giving away their presence. Later a small group of yellowhammers joined the whirling mass of birds. Only once previously have I witnessed such an accumulation of birds on the stubble. Of course, the usual wing clapping of dozens of wood pigeons and the chattering of magpies accompanied the other birds.