A sparrowhawk by the beach at South Milton Sands,

Another glorious sunny day greeted us when the tent flaps were opened. I must admit that it was Woopdpeckers who did the opening, long before I awoke and greeted me with a lovely up of tea in bed. After some bacon and eggs were served with strong coffee we headed off to the local town of Kingsbridge, where I wanted to do a bit of research in the local history resource centre attached to the museum, that would only be open for two hours up till midday.

I managed about an hour of enjoyable, though not too successful research, before meeting up with Woodpeckers who had found an internet cafe to catch up with her back blips. She also surprised me with another birthday present of a some waterproof over trousers which I have always needed, so I am ready for the wet days ahead, out on location though probably not trudging over too may hills!

The it was off to a different beach. It was very hot as we found our way to South Milton Sands beach which Helena had spotted was a National Trust beach, which meant that we could park for free, which is a big issue in this area we have found. She had prepared a small packed lunch of houmus, biscuits, olives and cheese which I enjoyed as we sat on the large expanse of sand behind Thurlestone Rock, an arch perched on rocks which are exposed at low tide. It was very busy and typical of a family beach venue offering wind surfing and safe swimming though no surf, because of the rocks out in the sea.

On our return back to the car park, we had a ice cream cone and as I prepared to load my stuff in the car, I looked back at the small freshwater pond that has formed inland of the sand dunes. I had taken some pictures when we arrived of some highland cattle standing like water buffalo at a watering hole, a scene I have seen numerous times on my travels in Asia. Now the cattle had disappeared and were re[laced by some horses who were also standing and cooling off in the pond water.

I saw a bird swoop across the far side of the water, and followed it as it landed on a gate post some way away. I took my camera out as I thought it might be an interesting bird, and then when looking through the viewfinder saw it was some sort of bird of prey. It then took off and came closer to another wooden post of a fence, but I couldn't get a clear shot through the waving fronds of rushes that were in the hedge in front of me. Then it flew off again but approached a me very quickly and flew along the hedge row and I realised that was likely to be the hunting style of a sparrowhawk. I couldn't get a shot of it in flight but luckily it landed again on another fence post close to the parked cars beside the sand dunes separating the freshwater from the beach.

A man came up to me who was equally excited and asked me if I knew what it was. I showed him the pictures i had managed to shoot, and then turned back to try again. I managed a couple of static shots on the fence before it took off and I took this picture as well as a couple more. what a delightful end to the day. We returned to the campsite to pack up the tent and then drove home to Stroud, arriving soon after it was completely dark. What a lovely few days we have had, and a particularly good birthday treat for me! Thank you so much, Helena!.