Soft white wings...

I've spent most of today in the coffee shop at the National Centre for Craft and Design in Sleaford. The morning was spent discussing botanical recording in Lincolnshire with the BSBI recorder for the northern half of the county. I received lots of good advice, some useful background information and four boxes of assorted journals that I now have to sort through!

As soon as we'd finished our meeting I met up with my friend Ross, who'd driven over from Boston. We hadn't seen each other since Christmas, so had lots to catch up on and lunch lingered on into the middle of the afternoon. By the time we decided to move before we stiffened up entirely, I'd almost lost my voice from chatting for five hours continuously.

Before parting we visited Luke Jerram's exhibition 'Revealing the Invisible' which depicts range of bacteria and viruses increased in size a million times and rendered in clear glass. The sculptures were remarkably delicate and beautiful, and absolutely fascinating and are now widely used to illustrate scientific journals and texts. Other works included two radiometer chandeliers and three rotated data sculptures, which were also very throught provoking.

On the way home I made a slight detour to visit the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust's washland reserve at Baston Fen. As I climbed up onto the bank of the River Glen I caught sight of a flash of white out of the corner of my eye, which I soon confirmed was a barn owl. Of course, because I'd been travelling light I didn't have a telephoto len - curses! In the end my visit proved rather magical. The light was rather special and I saw three seperate barn owls hunting -they were remarkably bold and approached quite closely. I managed to get one or two passable shots with my standard lens, but this rather more distant view sums up the calm and tranquil atmosphere of the reserve. I may have to make a return visit quite soon, armed with a telephoto lens!