· Wirral ·
A quick visit to RSPB Burton Mere on the way to Dad’s. The lack of exotic bird action was more than compensated by a juvenile robin that let me get very close indeed.
As I waited at a T-junction at the end of a hedgerowed lane a mile from Dad’s, a pygmy shrew scuttled across the road in front of me, narrowly avoiding being flattened by several cars. It was absolutely tiny, and could easily have nestled inside a teaspoon.
Out for a meal with my friend Stense in the evening. As I saw her back to her hotel, owls hooted in the nearby trees, and a toad preceded us up the gravel path. I hadn’t seen a toad for years.
