Misty

Another plumpie - so, my apologies if you're bored with them - but of the few photos I took today, this is the one I like best. It was taken with the 100-400 because that happened to be what was in my hand at the time, so it lacks the fine detail of a macro shot at the same settings; but on the plus side, the bokeh from this lens is gorgeous, and the slightly misty look it's given to this shot is very appropriate for the day,

I was on my way out, with strong reservations, because the forecast for the Cotswolds was that the afternoon would be quite reasonable, with some sunshine and not much wind. This, I'm sure, will have made you think Perfect owling conditions! - and they would have been, if the forecast had been correct. I doubted that it was, because it had been mizzling down in the trench here for hours, but I thought I should at least head out and check, because the owling days are growing short now: a single bird was reported at Bredon Hill on Friday, and although this was most probably one of the Severn Bridge owls heading north up the M5 corridor, it suggests that migration homewards has begun.

So off I went, but on turning onto the Roman Road I discovered that I couldn't see the Cotswold Edge through the murk; this was not promising. I pressed on to the Broadway Tower, which has a view southwards towards the owl ridge, but once again discovered when I got there that the entire escarpment was enveloped in low cloud, and visibility was only a few hundred metres. At this point I gave up, and swung back down Conduit Hill into Chipping Campden - the road living quite nicely up to its name by providing a channel down which a stream of muddy flood water was running - where I took some soggy photos of the church yard and the Banqueting Houses, and then came home.

I'd like to think that tomorrow will be better, but unless the forecast is as inaccurate as today's was... it won't be.