Preening Teal

It takes a second to work this out. The teal has his beak buried in his back feathers. There's quite a big gang of them on the river at the moment. Also spotted: cormorant, back headed gulls, mallards, crows, chaffinch, robin, long tailed tits, blue tit, kestrel and more song thrush. A lovely walk.

When I woke up this morning there was a covering of snow but it went almost straight away. The temperature is now about 11° and it's breezy. But still sunny so that's pleasant.

Had a good birthday party for the four year old yesterday. More cake - very tasty. The cousins played well together. I was tired by the evening after the morning's event and the fun, games and food at the birthday tea.

Later today our friend M. arrives for the week. It'll be nice to have a house guest and company for Cameraman while, fingers crossed, I'm away for a few days. Must pack!