Hello!

The last online interview this morning, fairly painless, after which I headed down to Stockbridge to put on the waders and trek doon the Water. We were on the hunt for the last of the Himalayan Balsam, along the bank below the Colonies. Had to battle through a lot of brambles and was wishing I'd worn something with long sleeves - although it would have been much too hot. And something that felt very much like a midge bite has manifested itself on the back of my neck.....

As usual, there were sights to be seen. e.g. two young dandies stretched out in hammocks under the trees (on the Rocheid side), playing ukeleles and smoking......something. To keep the midges away, obvs. And the heron was perched in the tree in the same spot (near the Stockbridge Gormley) at around 2 pm when I arrived and around 4 pm when I went back to the van to drop off the waders. As soon as I pointed the camera at him he went into furious preening mode, so in most of the photos he appears headless. Also saw a grey wagtail, and hunners of little fish in the water.