Lurker

Despite having all the good equipment, yesterday's mammoth gardening effort left me too tired today to want to do much. I pottered around with the camera for a while, but I couldn't seem to apply myself even to that, and when R said he was going for coffee and a walk in Stratford I was happy to tag along.

As far as I could make out there's still only one Migrant Hawker at Lucy's Mill, and today it was too busy avoiding the Brown Hawkers that were on constant patrol over the reed beds to pose for a photograph. As for the Brown Hawkers, the best I can say is that I managed some identifiable record shots.

I was standing under the road bridge looking westwards, and trying to track the dragons as they moved in and out of the reeds, when I suddenly realised that there was something very much bigger skulking there. I don't believe I've ever seen any of the local herons in quite this position before - that is, standing on a raft of collapsed leaves, well away from the bank - and despite all the intervening foliage I couldn't resist taking its photo. After this I moved up onto the footbridge, from where I had a much cleaner view of the bird, but I prefer this image for the close-up detail of its face and feathers, and for the sense it gives of a lurking predator.

This evening R and I watched Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me, which I recommend. I'll be honest: I'm not remotely interested in Strictly, and therefore I'd never heard of Amy Dowden, so I probably wouldn't have watched it if L hadn't done the graphics. But Ms Dowden is a very engaging young woman, and it was an emotional and inspiring film, so I'm glad to have seen it. And I'm sure you won't judge me too harshly for jumping up and down on the sofa and squeaking with excitement, when my daughter's name came up in the end credits of a prime-time BBC1 programme. Proud Mummy? Well... maybe just a bit.