In the afternoon I moved back to Shapwick in the hope of getting one of the Bitterns that the previous day I had noticed were, at times, flying over the main path from one reed bed to another.

Breakfasted on Tealham Moor, less of a moor in the traditional sense and more of an extensive area of wet grazing meadows with a good number of ditches throughout, but not a common sight today.

An early morning start saw me at Greylake RSPB reserve for soon after 7.00am. Very quite save for Reed and Sedge Warblers on the reeds along the paths to the hide and some mating swallows from the hide.

Coming back from the farm the other day I decided to take a look at the bushes at the side of the railway to see what was about. The camera was in the van and I just took the binoculars. Ten yards off the road down a small path towards the railway, and only about twenty yards away, was a fox staring me out. I moved slowly back to the van to get the camera, in the forlorn hope that it would still be there when I got back, took the converter off and went to have a look. It hadn’t moved at all! The light was great and a shadow behind the fox helped to really lift it from the background. It really is difficult to go anywhere without the longer lens. On this occasion I was fortunate, every other fox encounter I’ve had has seen them nervously retreat pretty quickly, especially when only a short distance away.

Early on the second morning I decided to locate at the far end of the reserve and stay for a couple of hours to see what turned up.