Sunrise 08.06 Sunset 16.30 GMT

We’ve had some awful wet weather and high winds at times and just when you are really fed up a glorious day comes along and lifts your spirits. Today was one of those. For a start because the skies were clear it was lighter when I got up just before 7am. Looking out of the bedroom window I could see the frost on the cars and on the road from the rain the previous day.

I walked across the fields to Hayward’s bridge and noticed that the river had risen a little after the storms of the day before and there was lots of debris, mainly limbs of trees, floating down the river. We walked along the Trailway to Shillingstone down the the Haines-Wilson footbridge over the Stour (more on my Photo blog). I walked back along the Trailway and noticed many different species of small birds, including Golfinches, Chaffinches, Robins, Wren’s, Tit’s to name a few, in the trees and shrubs, there is quite a variety of vegetation along there which encourages the birds.

A heron was flying over as I walked across from Bere Marsh and I also spotted an Egret out the corner of my eye, they are such a bright white! I met Rod coming down with Lucy and went home for breakfast and a welcome cup of tea.

The afternoon was also glorious so we decided to walk down the fields with the dogs in the afternoon. I noticed some Hazel catkins were maturing in the hedgerow, spring seems to be on it’s way already! We could also hear a number of Greater Spotted woodpeckers and we spotted two in an Oak tree looking like they were pairing up.

Down in the bottom meadow I spotted something running across the field, we realised it was a grey squirrel, we watched him run across the whole field some 500 yards from Mill Ham island over to the little spinney. I’m glad he made it safely. We were also surprised to see 3 deer grazing in Netmead field at that time of day.

As we were down in the field seven Cormorants flew over, we wondered where they had been for the day, perhaps the flooded Somerset Levels.

We made the most of the day as by 6 pm it was raining again!