The bend in the River Severn at low tide

After getting my special organic milk products (their delicious keffir in particular) from Jess's Ladies Dairy I made a small detour to the east bank of the River Severn at Epney. Dusk was approaching.

I'd seen many sea birds flying over the fields in groups and thought they would be heading to the feeding grounds on exposed sand banks in the river. This proved to be correct and as I stood looking west towards the Forest of Dean I watched an endless stream of birds flying low over the river towards Framilode. I've often observed this behaviour and surmised they are gathering on the sand in the middle of the river where edible creatures must be exposed for short time at low tides.

Looking upstream I took this picture as the birds flew downstream. The bend in the river hides a very wide expanse of water just around this corner. You can see quite a few birds, mostly gulls flying towards me. You can see a heron as it stood in the shallows unaffected by all the commotion and noise of the flying birds.

The hilltop on the horizon is at the northern end of the Malvern hills, the Worcestershire Beacon.