Bright and breezy

Another day spent mostly hunched over the keyboard, but at least I made good progress and the end of another report is in sight, at least in draft! The morning was overcast and cool, which meant I wasn't too distracted by the urge to get outside.

By late afternoon I was ready for a break, so headed out to the Etton-Maxey reserve. Miraculously, on my journey out, the clouds parted and the second half of the afternoon was bright and breezy. Sadly, while driving, I realised that I hadn't put the SD  card back in my camera, but decided to carry on anyway. So all my photos were taken with my phone.

At first the reserve seemed rather quiet, but in the end I had a very rewarding visit. I found a Water Shrew under a reptile mat, and enjoyed watching it running along its grassy tunnels without feeling the need to try and photograph it. There were Badger tracks in an area of mud, and I spent a good while watching three Brown Hares near the north end of the reserve, their fur appearing positively golden in the afternoon sun. As a bonus they were surrounded by possibly the largest flock of Fieldfare that I've seen this winter.

When I returned home I helped Pete in the garden for a while - the break had clearly been beneficial as I carried on with my report while he prepared dinner, so am now very close to the end!