The post-vaccine symptoms settled down overnight, thank goodness, and I got up with a strong desire not to spend another day stuck at home, so after breakfast R and I went out, first to The Valley at Evesham to examine Christmas trees (we didn’t buy one, and also managed to talk ourselves out of a prancing lawn reindeer, but I came away with yet another gilet, because you can never have too many of those), and then on into Stratford. He then went off on personal business, while I strode along the south bank of the river, enjoying the sunshine.
I’d hoped to see a Kingfisher in the area around the weirs and lock, because we quite regularly spot one there – though virtually never perched, sadly – and it was a surprise when instead I noticed this Grey Heron standing in the debris from the recent floods, right underneath the lock gate. Herons often stand on one or other of the two weirs, watching for fish being swept down the steps, or on the islands to either side of the weirs, and I recently photographed one taking a nap on top of the sluice gate, but I’ve never seen one here before, and it seemed an unlikely place for it to be hunting. In fact I couldn’t work out what it thought it was doing, and I’m not sure that the bird knew either, because it seemed very unsettled.
At that moment my phone rang, and I was still mid-conversation when the Heron suddenly took off, so I missed the drama of it taking flight. It circled round over the islands, calling as it went, and landed in the Recreation Ground, but then almost immediately took off again, still calling, circled the islands once more, and then disappeared westwards. Outside the breeding season Grey Herons are solitary, and this is an adult bird, so I can’t work out why it was so antsy – though I suppose it might be a parent still looking out for a juvenile.
Back at home this afternoon R and I short-listed some gifts for the Boy Wonder and the Baby Brother, and then put up the tree. Once the lights were on and working, R went off to discuss our list with L, while I finished trimming the tree with ribbon and baubles, and drank an unwise amount of Prosecco. Then we watched the final episode of Down Cemetery Road on AppleTV, which is truly one of the most enjoyable series I’ve seen for many years. Highly recommended.
R: L2, C2, D14.
