It's not a bad morning here in the valley.  We have some sunshine and a light westerly breeze with high white cloud for a change rather than the low grey stuff that has persisted all summer.

I'm just back from a walk up to the Tarn which looked inviting under the early sun, the surface rippled by the breeze and a fair number of water fowl feeding along the margins.  As I stood by the hut a cormorant flew slowly over clearly on a recce.  It decided that discretion was in order and flew off down river.  I had a look through the wildlife book and It's encouraging to see how many members have recorded sightings of the pterodactyls over the past couple of years. I am meeting a rep from Natural England at the Tarn on Tuesday to discuss the cormorant problem and this evidence will be valuable in persuading her that we need to do something to protect our fishery from continued predation.

I walked back along cow pasture looking for mushrooms and got enough for breakfast.  As I got to the field gate above Newhouses I put up a hare that scuttled off along the road in the direction of the hamlet.  This is the first one I have seen for months and it's good to know that at least one is still around.

The news about Sammy's wife Bea is still not good.  She is in an induced coma in intensive care whilst the medics try to re-inflate her collapsed lung.  She remains very much in my thoughts.

Ian