Surprise

The ISO here is sky-high, but I haven't done much to smooth it out because I don't want the blackbird to look as though she's been Botoxed. I was walking along the east side of Holy Trinity church in Stratford this afternoon when I saw her hanging on to the ivy in a gloomy section of the church yard, pulling off the berries, and I liked her startled expression. She seemed to be more irritated than scared though, and carried on berrying until she lost her grip on the ivy and fluttered to the ground - after which she proceeded to beat up an amorous male who came courting, an encounter that happened almost at my feet.

I don't have much else to report except that I've been signed off by my osteopath - yay! Now I just have to stop walking as though my spine is made of porcelain, and build back up all the muscle tone I've lost over the past month: I'm hoping for a good bug season this year, and I don't want my activity to be limited by a weak back.

As I didn't find anything especially beautiful to photograph today, I've put some Slimbridge loveliness on my Facebook page: a male and a female smew, photographed at close quarters on the same pond where I snapped the eider the other day.