Dunnock

The dunnock or hedge sparrow is such an easily overlooked bird, the birder's archetypal LBJ (little brown job).  Seen up close, they are beautifully marked in browns and greys.  They also have an interesting love life, often based on threesomes.  This is one of three that are often together in our garden, and here seen in the hedge in the lane (now much of the blackthorn twigs are dead when the shrubs were uprooted in Storm Arwen).

This turned out to be a busy day.  We had to make an emergency appointment for an eye examination.  On Sunday evening I was seeing streaking lights in the corner of my right eye, and there were floaters drifting across the vision of that eye.  When the receptionist tells you that you need to be seen within 24 hours, it can be a bit disconcerting.

C had to shuffle her morning Qigong classes to get me to the ophthalmologist, though we did manage the first class in the morning and it was just what I needed to stay calm.

Anyway, the examination showed that there had been a minor tear in the eye, but otherwise the condition of both eyes was good, and the tear should heal itself within a few days.  I was also reassured that it wasn't something I had done (such as planting the garlic!) which had triggered it.  So, that was all a bit of a relief.

Apologies that I have had comments off, I'm turning them back on today, but may be light on comments for a few days.