Swan River

Things have gone fairly smoothly today, despite the date! There was a minor panic this morning, when we thought that Alex had lost some important papers which form part of his course, but they turned up hidden in a pile of my documents, a result of random filing at the end of the autumn term.

I managed to get him to Orton Pit only a few minutes late and he spent the day rescuing hibernating great crested newts, smooth newts and common lizards from the digger that is currently on site to restore a further set of ponds for stoneworts.

I spent much of the morning preparing a quote and redrawing a habitat map, where the client wanted a larger area included retrospectively. Than goodness for Google Earth and a good memory! I also proof read Chris's third year research report. I must admit I was quite bemused by the statistical analyses - biology is certainly a lot more mathematical than it was in my day!!

Chris and I managed to find time for a walk the dogs along the river, in dazzling winter sunshine. There were plenty of swans around, and they were the only creatures I photographed today. These two certainly had attitude, and were swearing mightily at the dogs. I know a lot of people are nervous near swans, but I've always found that they're all bluster, and if you stand up to them they'll invariably back down. Quite like some people, come to think of it :)

Thanks so much for all the comments and stars for yesterday's sunset - I'm sure I'm giving you all a very selective view of the landscape around Peterborough!