Stoatally different

You've heard the old joke about the difference between weasels and stoats?
Weasels are weaselly recognisable, stoats are stoatally different

What a foul day! Nothing but rain and wind. But I wanted to try something different and capture a half decent landscape in dud conditions. Not sure I succeeded, though I like a challenge. So I put on walking boots, took an umbrella to protect the camera (it blew inside out and cartwheeled over the mud when I put it down) and took myself to the river. This sculptural tree seemed a suitably bleak foreground subject.

One thing the wet did do was turn the wood and bark rich and chocolatey and last year's dun coloured reeds a wonderful chestnut colour, so that was a plus.

And while I was here I had the most wonderful sighting of a stoat - not running away, just bounding about living its stoaty life and flicking its little black tail. Utter magic!