Dried out

Spent the central part of the day travelling out to Little France and having a lumbar puncture - spinal tap!! For medical research purposes, you understand. 6 ml of the precious meles brain-juice, they took. "Gin-clear", said the extractor in chief (that's a good thing, apparently).

On my way back to the bus I was gazing down at what in January had been reed beds in a sort of elongated pond - now totally dried out - when I noticed movement. It was a mother moorhen and two chicks, forlornly scratting about in the dried mud.