Pretended to myself that I was catching up with work this morning, a strange weird world where people show photos of their worlds to strangers got in the way. Eventually I gave in and went and made some scones. Then ate scones and drank wine with good friends in the garden. Then did some serious weeding. All in all I had more fun than if I'd got on with my work but now I have twice as much to do tomorrow. Ach well, I'll cope.

Everything I did today was accompanied by the sound of these oystercatchers. They appeared in our garden this morning. It's possible that the nest was in the garden all along as it is a strange place for them to be if they didn't. The chicks would have to have walked a fair distance around our wall to get in if they came this morning. So we suspect they may have hatched here. They are fairly big now so it could just be that the adults are letting them wander more. The adults are happy enough for us to be around but keep up a constant shrill peep peep.

The other very quiet peep is from one of our duck eggs which is very slowly starting to hatch. The wee thing has broken a hole big enough to get its bill through and we are hoping it manages to get out, it can be a very dangerous time. I hope it has the strength.