There was an unpleasant incident at the Alternative Olympic Games this afternoon, when Team Short-eared Owl refused to fly, citing concerns about the temperature and the strength of the wind. Their Chef d’Equipe, a Great Grey Shrike with a fearsome reputation for impaling his opponents on thorn bushes, was summoned to explain the team’s intransigence by the somewhat nervous AOG authorities, but was requested to kindly keep his distance during the discussions. The Chef was unwontedly polite and obliging, but firm: the team would only hunt when they thought the conditions were right, and this afternoon they simply weren’t hungry enough to brave the weather conditions.
With the spectators growing restive, Team Golden Plover decided to take advantage of this unexpected hiatus in proceedings, and staged an impromptu display of formation flying that brought the crowd to its feet, applauding and calling for more. The display ended with a perfectly synchronised landing in the owl field, which amused the audience, but elicited a formal protest from Team Short-eared Owl, who characterised this use of their hunting ground as “trolling”.
Your correspondent would like to express her thanks to Hillyblips for the generous loan of her x2 converter, without which this photograph would not have been possible.
