Watching

Well, the cockerel didn't exactly crow - even though his side was victorious. There is only one winner in a game of rugby, but in this case the losers were the more heroic side whose play will be the more admired. Whoever wins tomorrow's encounter will surely go on to win the final in a week's time.

A disappointing start to what was a wonderful day. The Indian Summer returned. We went for a leisurely walk over the Knott and around the headland with Simon, Jean, Matthew and Captain Bill, stopping for a picnic at Far Arnside. The warm weather brought out perhaps the last flush of butterfly species of the autumn, and on one stand of ivy flowers we counted at least 8 red admiral butterflies.

Last night the moth trap went out for the first time for months. Rare and exotic species have been turning up lately in traps elsewhere in Cumbria. Not for me last night, though I did catch a moth that I have never seen in the garden before: an autumn green carpet. I had 5 species in all, not bad for this time of year. All have now been safely released to fly another night.

I took a lot of photos today, but in the end this soulful cow had to be the blip. In the small fields outside the Bob In cafe, there are always a few interesting breeds of cows and sheep. I'm not sure what breed this cow is, but she was a fine beast as my farmer Father-in-Law would have said.

ps Pure coincidence that a year ago was another cow blip.

pps The first of the winter thrushes were flying over the Knott this morning - fieldfares.