The secret reserve

Today I had another fabulous (and completely official) morning in the non-public part of the nature reserve (many, many times larger than the public access bit). 
We counted the sheep, including this little character - 41
We checked the cows - one has an eye the vet needs to look at
We didn't check the New Forest ponies as someone else was coming to look at their feet
Water levels were measured right across the site
Amongst other things, we saw:
a wild swimmer
a red kite
2 swan families
13 snipe
a kingfisher
a yaffle (green woodpecker)
several wrens
a handful of cettis warblers (though truthfully we heard them shouting more than we saw them)
a male and a female stonechat
3 heron
a roe deer
the otters' favourite stretch of river (but sadly no otters)
the mink trap (empty)
some lingering meadowsweet, red clover and milkwort
a pair of huge poplars in glorious autumn colour (see extra)
And a lot of mud.

And that's Friday.  Hope yours was okay and that you have a good weekend lined up  xx