The wonder of wigeon
by Mark Cocker from on (#W8MW)
Claxton, Norfolk Wigeon seem finely engineered, slender winged and pre-oiled so that all parts slide freely through the air
The wind was bitter and ice-edged and it inflicted a final layer of melancholy on the dank marsh, the slumped reeds, the plain of grey overhead and the river Yare, which was just leaden ooze twisting on an outgoing tide. Eventually I felt it all as the cold ache at my temple.
But other creatures seemed to catch the same mood. Swans in the fields were all gangling necks and heavy waddle, while a buzzard, bulked up with air and feathers as it perched in the copse, flew off with that plodding tempo of its species. Then I climbed the riverbank and suddenly there were the wigeon.
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