After some cloud the previous day, the weather had reverted to clear and blue. I wanted to spend some more time on Bodmin Moor, so we drove to the the car park for Rough Tor, a low hill which lies near the hamlet of Poldhue. The sat nav initially took me up a long farm track but a very friendly local put me right and led me to the correct location. There were some school parties going for an expedition and a lot of dog walkers striding out on to the moor, but in this big scenery I soon lost them. We walked over the plain in front of the tor and I saw a flock of birds that I initially though were knots wheeling and turning in the sky. On our return from the tor I noticed that they had landed. Moving closer I saw that they were golden plover, the males still in their winter plumage. They ran and chattered through the grass, but as I got closer to them froze and huddled down, silent. We climbed to the jumble of boulders on the top of the tor where I took p...
