Members who arrived at the Tarn yesterday for a quiet day contemplating nature and a bit of fluff on the end of a line got rater more nature than they bargained for.  I was up on the fell during the morning and on my return found the lane by the Tarn full of cars with a good few people milling on the verge.  Suspecting either a mass poach or that fly fishing had suddenly become a spectator sport I stopped to find out what was up.  It transpires that for the first time in some years the local beagle pack was out attempting to flush foxes for the guns.  Now as regular readers will know we have a fox issue at the Tarn with regular sightings of a large dog fox which I suspect to be particularly partial to cygnets.

It would seem that despite the efforts of some very enthusiastic beagles which put up a fox below the Tarn he got away so unless they had more success later in the afternoon Reynard is still in residence.

It's  a sure thing that sex will often get you into trouble.  The same clearly applies to animals.  Later yesterday afternoon I got a call from a neighbour who had been told that her bull was astride a gate up by the Tarn. Up we went suspecting the worst and blaming the beagles for spooking said bull.  We found the boy in good shape with no obvious damage, but the cause of his predicament was also obvious for standing in front of him fluttering her eyelashes was a heifer who was clearly bulling.  As we approached contemplating the task of lifting a couple of tons of beef off a gate the boy decided that he was finished with looking stupid in front of his intended amour and vaulted the gate.  Last we saw of the pair was down by the Tarn seemingly walking arm in arm.  Members should be aware that the gate through to Tarn pasture is now fairly well modified, but will open with a bit of brute force!

It's a cracking autumn morning here.  Not too cold and plenty of sunshine for a change with much less wind than yesterday.  The fells above High Birkwith where I was yesterday were constantly in and out of thick mist or low cloud blown to rags by a stiff north west wind.  No sign of the mist this morning so conditions are looking good for a session at the Tarn.

Ian