Mandarin bath

Another gloriously sunny day! I did a bit of work in the morning, but there wasn't enough to occupy my afternoon - I did work late on Wednesday though. So, I took the train to Putney, meeting a guy who's selling some interesting bicycles that you stand on rather than sit on - watch out for them around London in the next few months. From Putney I cycled to Barnes along the Thames and jumped off at the Wetland Centre to look for voles. Alas, the voles remained elusive, again. Though I thought I heard a tell-tale 'plop' and definitely saw movement under the water, but I cannot say for certain that this was due to a vole. So I snapped this mandarin duck having a bath. I also saw two cranes, which are recent residents of the centre. The Wetlands trust is helping to reintroduce the birds to the British countryside after they were made extinct.

In the evening, F and I headed to an unlikely venue - St-Giles-in-the-Fields church - to see Holton's Opulent Oog, Gravenhurst, and Neil Halstead. The support bands were brilliant, but Neil Halstead blew us away - his voice is amazing, and the acoustics in the church were perfect. He sang 'Between the Bars' - a song he wrote when he was in the band Mojave 3 - and it was definitely the highlight of the show for me. I saw Neil Halstead back in 1993 when he was a member of Slowdive. It doesn't seem all that long ago.

Chipmunk