Sociable Birdlife

These swans, cranes, Canada geese, and ducks are a small section of a 100's strong flock of assorted birds pausing in their journey north.  A little further along there were over 20 cranes in their own bit of field, and a little earlier I'd passed at least 50 swans. As I stood by my bike taking pictures more swans were arriving every few minutes.
They are in a field of barley that never got harvested and then was flattened by the snow, so there is plenty of food. A beck runs by, so there is water to retreat to if a hungry fox arrives. But there are several similar places around with hardly a bird on them. I reckon there is safety in numbers, and a bird flying by senses it must be safe if all those other birds are on the ground feeding. Apart from that they seem to enjoy socialising, at least among their own kind. The swans and geeses keep up a steady conversation as they wander around. The cranes are much quieter on the ground, but make up for it with a screeching cry when in the air. Several times I looked up today as I heard that screech, to see a solitary crane or a small flock flying by. They glide by with scarcely a movement of their wings, using the spring thermals to gain height. One flock found a thermal just above our house and they circled round and round for about ten minutes. However, the therrmal must have been very weak, or very broken up because when they turned away and flew onwards they didn't seem to be have gained any altitude at all!
We worked in the garden today, really for the first time this year. We also spent time just sitting in the sun chatting and reading. Later in the day I was out on the e-bike again, finding a nice 30 km circuit, mostly on tarmac roads and about third of it along the river.