Bullhead for breakfast

After another miserable day weatherwise, today was bright and mild, positively spring-like. I woke with no voice - Alex has kindly passed on his sore throat and cold - but once I was up and had imbibed a strong cup of coffee I didn't feel too bad, so it was off for a brisk walk round Ferry Meadows with Rosie.

As we were coming back along the lake shore I spotted a gull bobbing around close to the margin. Suddenly it dived down and came up with a bullhead in its beak. Bullheads Cottus gobio, also known as the miller's thumb, are small fish, with a large mouth, large pectoral fins, prominent eyes and a wide flattened head. They are mottled brown on top, with a pale belly.

They are supposed to spend the day hiding under stones or in vegetation, and come out at dusk to feed - but clearly this one hadn't been reading the text books. They're widely distributed in England, and are found in streams, rivers and lakes with hard stony substrates. They're surprisingly frequent on the stonier margins of the lakes at Ferry Meadows.

Bullheads are prey for many different species, including brown trout, pike, grey heron, kingfisher,dippers and black-headed gulls. And I thought the local gulls survived mostly on bread, chips and food they scavenged from the local waste tip!

I was quite tired after our more energetic walk, but the weather was so lovely that I decided to spend an hour or so tidying the front garden. I filled two large bins with cuttings, and you could scarcely see where I'd been. I'm trying to keep busy at the moment as it stops me missing Gemma quite so much. The mornings are the hardest as she used to sleep on the end of the bed, and was always there to greet me with a lick and a wag. I miss that so much...