Sunbathing...

On a cool and sunny summer morning I came across this grey heron sunbathing. In all the years that I have been walking along the river and around the rowing lake I have never previously seen this behaviour, though it seems to be quite frequent, judging by the number of similar photographs on the internet.

It's standing on a weed cutting boat. This is used to keep the 1km long championship rowing course usable. The rectangular lake is fairly shallow, and over the years nutrient levels have built up causing huge growths of fine-leaved pondweeds during the summer. I think this boat originated from The Netherlands!

A much more relaxed day - catching up with routine chores like washing and mowing the lawn. I even had a doze in the garden this afternoon along with the dogs, Poppy cat and one of the chickens, who's also very partial to sunbathing. I woke up to find a buzzard circling high overhead! I hope it wasn't considering any of us as possible food items.

Russell's still doing very well. The cats and dogs seem to have accepted him as part of the family and he seems to particularly enjoy perching on the tops of doors and watching his family. His flying is improving and he can now go upwards over short distances, though he can't sustain an upward trajectory for very long yet.