It was one of those days when everything was turning out rather better than expected. The overnight rain had stopped, the north east wind that had been blowing for days had eased . . . and as soon as I stepped foot on the marsh I heard a cuckoo.
A perfect start to a spring day and it got even better when I saw a water vole sitting on the bank of the rhyne. A rare treat in itself but to watch a water vole whilst listening to a cuckoo was a touch of May magic.
The water vole felled one of last years reeds – tough, bleached and woody and twice its length . . .
. . . before dragging it to the water’s edge.
After one final trim it plopped into the rhyne and dived below the surface with prize in tow . . . maybe heading for the underwater entrance to its burrow?
If I did not see anything further this was well worth getting up early for . . . but in the next hour I heard skylarks and curlews, came face to face with a somewhat scruffy roe buck and yes I saw the cuckoo!
A splendid morning!
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