Bank vole

After yesterday's lack of action outdoors, I was determined to go out today despite the dull weather forecast. At least there was no rain forecast :)

After I had picked up and dropped off my mum's repeat prescription from the pharmacy, we went to Yarrow Valley Country Park in search of the dippers. I'd seen a few shots of them nest building on FB so knew that they must have been around, but this time we were out of luck. 
However, we had a lovely few hours in what turned out to be some nice sunshine and saw some good sights. A glimpse of a kingfisher, a distant sleepy great crested grebe, some grey wagtails, a couple of flitting goldcrests which were great to see and this cheeky little bank vole were the highlights. We'd not been for a long time, but remembered where we saw it last year and sure enough, out he popped after a few minutes - just the once though. 

It was lovely to get away from news about coronavirus for a few hours, but of course it was firmly in our minds, with no more than a hello or good morning to everyone we met. No stopping to compare shots or news about sightings, just walk on by after a smile and a greeting. But everyone seems to be doing the same and heeding the advice which was good to see. 

Tomorrow we will be braving the supermarket to hopefully get my parents their shopping - but let's see what they have left! 

Stay safe and keep washing those hands people.