Flickers of movement where no plane flies

Manchester airport A grounded traveller is distracted by the pied wagtails swarming over the terminal roof

The storm has mostly moved over, but its trailing coat still ruffles the air outside Terminal 1 of Manchester airport, and the backlog of cancelled and delayed flights testifies to its handiwork. With an unexpected three hours to kill, I leave the terminal by way of a first-floor access road, as the dregs of the day drain from the oppressively blank sky.

I am braced for boredom, but an incongruous flicker of movement stops me in my tracks. The sheer brazenness of the small, energetic bird as it hops around on the asphalt is startling but, before I can contemplate it further, another bird bouncing along a railing distracts my eye. Another, then another, and, before I know it, my eyes are attempting to join 200 or more restless black and white dots, each one a point of elusive energy that seems to flee my gaze just before I can settle on it.