Resting

I walked down the hill to "our" lower lake (along the very messy road I blipped two days back). There had been a lot of cackling and honking sounds drifting up from the bottom hill so I went to take a look.
The lake was still mostly ice-covered but there were several patches of open water, where the current flowed a little faster or where a stream flowed into the lake, as here. The birds were resting on the ice or feeding in the shallow open areas.
The birds are very wary, even when they look asleep. I moved down to the edge of the lake behind a screen of trees, walking over very soft ground and making no sounds, but even so the birds were attentive, or beginning to walk away by the time I got there.
Some of these birds are waiting around here for the ice to melt further north so they can continue their journey. Others will stay around here until autumn. I wonder how they decide? Do they return to where they were hatched?
None of the birds actually flew away, and after I'd stood quietly for a while they all settled down again to snooze away the day. I was happy they weren't so disturbed by me.
Other news from the day. We attended communion in Sutton Coldfield Baptist church. No we didn't race across the North Sea, we were taking part via the wonders of distance communication. Later we watched "Jesus Christ - Superstar" which is available on YouTube until 7 pm BST on Sunday. Well worth watching imho!