Birds flying, seen from hide around edge of lake (5)
I believe the answer is:
skein
'birds flying' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'hide around edge of lake' is the wordplay.
'hide' becomes 'skin' (synonyms).
'around' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'edge of' indicates one should take the final letters (one of the letters on the edge of the word).
The last letter of 'lake' is 'e'.
'skin' enclosing 'e' is 'SKEIN'.
'seen from' is the link.
(Other definitions for skein that I've seen before include "Loose bundle of yarn" , "Loosely coiled bundle of wool" , "Loose coil of yarn" , "Piece of loose-coiled yarn" , "Loosely coiled length of thread" .)