It's a truly foul morning with heavy rain and a brisk south west wind stripping the leaves from the trees and sending them swirling past my office window. 

My hens emerged from the warmth of the hen hut and immediately headed for the shelter of the goat house muttering and complaining about the weather.  Most have now moulted so now look sleek in new plumage and far less tatty than they did a couple of weeks ago. The same can't be said for the cockerel who always seems to moult last and is now minus most of his tail feathers and a fair few on his cape and wings.  This loss makes him a little unsteady and clearly dampens his ardour so that his first thought now is food rather than attempted rape.  The leghorns I bought back in the early summer have been a great success with almost an egg a day from each of them.  Mind you they do have  a down side which is a strong tendency to be somewhere else.  They are a light breed with fairly good flying ability for a hen so clearing a 5ft fence presents little problem.  One in particular has taken to foraging on the village green opposite the house and has made a nest in the front garden which has become the laying place of choice.  I should really clip a few wing feathers to stop the great escape, but at this time of year they do more good than harm in the garden so I will let them wander for the time being.

It's not a day for faint hearted fishermen and the river is rising fast so I will postpone my October invertebrate check until later in the week.

Ian