A couple of young otters crossing the grass just in front of us by the watercress beds; surveying Forest nightjars on summer evenings; a firecrest on exactly the same twig as the last one—four years earlier; two pairs of hobbies in the dusk hunting bats over the river; one hobby chasing martins at full speed in 50 m vertical circles; a barn owl hunting over the marshes; curlew trying to nest nearby, a young fox catching a vole three metres from where we were hiding amongst the cattle; a buzzard flushed from a headless grass snake—which continued to writhe creepily for over half an hour (OK, perhaps that’s not so nice); lots of kingfishers, egrets, nesting grebes, Cetti’s warblers, woodlarks etc.
Have a holiday, build a pond, visit the pond we built last year while on holiday, enough sailing, the Round the Island Race, enough riding, seeing enough of friends and relations. Maybe next year...
Photos: Above: Dawn, her mother Delilah and their calves Dusk and Daybreak, born on the same day. Right: A smart new greenhouse (courtesy of Rue's mother Jane) installed in good time for a promising crop of chillies and tomatoes.