Wild rose

A bright and breezy early summer morning along the river. The reed and sedge warblers are still in full song, occasionally joined by the cuckoo. Wild roses, flag irises and hogweed are in full bloom, a symphony of pink, yellow and white. The roses are early this year, and almost past their peak, so I took the opportunity to catch the soft morning light filtering through their petals. The white fluff on the stem is from the willow seeds,which have been floating through through the air for the last couple of weeks.

Most of the rest of the day was spent surveying grassland next to a large railway sidings, with more to do tomorrow. When we returned home we let the chickens out while we had a cup of tea in the kitchen. We heard a rather cross squawk and lookesd out to see a sleek brown fox on the patio, just a couple of metres away from them. We frightened her off - but we're obviously going to have to keep the chickens under close supervision. I suspect she's a hungry vixen with cubs...