An October Bench

An absolutely superb day for sitting on the bench and gazing out over Scapa Flow.  I heard the first of the returning Long Tailed Duck early this morning; they are back from Finland or Iceland.  Their trumpeting call is diagnostic.  There were also rwo gannets below the house, which is unusual in flat calm weather.  Two ravens barrelled overhead and sky larks chirp as they passed; three meadow pipits seeped around.  A solitary male blackbird scolded Baz.  And quite right too,

If only I could have lingered on the bench but I spent a large part of the day draining fuel oil from pipes and filters in an effort to get the boiler firing up.