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neuer be that enthusiastic about seagulls. The party split
into two small groups, Mr. Parker's group going one way and
we another, led by a young man called Ian, who kept staring
ouer the mud at the seagulls.
Son Number One bounced ouer and asked, in a voice keen enough
to bring the tears to my eyes, what the birds were called.
He was pointing to some large "seagulls", Ian told him they
were Brent Geese. I peered painfully into the gloom, my
interest flickering, and as we looked they suddenly flew up
together and moved on in formation. we watched in admiration.
The children were more excited than ever and Son Number Two
now took off his coat as he had got so hot and Son Number One
took off his gloves and stuffed them into his pockets. I
noticed other members of the group doing the same and
shuddered. The wind seemed to me to be blowing through my
eyes and out of my ears! Suddenly, Ian was pointing out
a couple of herons. One flew over and landed near us, in
the shelter of the sea wall. I felt a strong affinity with
the one other creature on earth who found the wind cold that
morning. What a lovely looking bird he was, tall grey and
elegant. I gazed at him with delight and watched the children
as they too gazed delightedly.
Ide looked again across the mud and now started pointing out to
each other all the different shapes and sizes of the birds.
How could I have dismissed them all as seagulls? Ian
patiently told us what they were and how they lived and the
more he told us the more fascinating and beautiful they
became. How glad I was that we had come on this expedition
after all, and how exciting it was to have my eyes opened and
to look afresh at something I had only vaguely appreciated
for so many years. I had always thought of all the birds by
the sea as seagulls and the ones in land as sparrows. How
refreshing it was to be actually experiencing the wonder of
discovery with our children instead of being a bystander,
only watching and enjoying their wonder.
Later, tucking enthusiastically into hot soup and rolls, we
had seen our first ever cormorants, sanderlings, dunlins and
redshanks and discovered that black-headed gulls had
white heads in winter. On the way back we were lucky enough to
spot some bramblings in the bushes by the sea wall.
So you can see how it is that at last, I have decided my
brother is not so bad after all. One day I might tell him so!