Best laid plans

 Sometimes it doesn't matter how thorough the preparation, if the Pike haven't read the script, the effort involved counts for nothing. This is exactly how my 2025/26 RMC campaign has started. Two sessions, in a prime spot, yet not a murmur from the alarms. There was a third session planned, yet grand-parenting duties had to take priority and the chance was missed. So, if I am to have anything to offer during the "round robin" at the PAC meeting, next Monday night, I will have to catch something earlier in the day. Quite obviously, my time on the banks has not been wasted and it's been great to catch up with some folk who have been just as much a part of the experience as any Pike I might have landed from this historic waterway during the past four seasons.

A smart little Stonechat beside the track from Lilyroo's to Hacklinge pumping station.

Luckily, the daily Bruno walks have allowed me to enjoy some reasonable birding, around the various locations we wander, and the camera has been useful on the odd occassion?  A complete circuit of the Grove Ferry/Stodmarsh NNR site proved to be quite a stiff test for Bruno's little legs, yet he made it back to the van before collapsing on his blanket and immediately falling asleep. Nothing unexpected was encountered during the stroll, although nine Great White Egrets were spread around the margins of the main lake, and seemed like a high number for the site? Anywhere there were cows, then sure enough there were Cattle Egrets to be seen. I made a rough count of fifteen, but that might be well off the mark due to the uneven terrain the animals were grazing.

Sometimes an image is not about the bird but, more pleasing, because it
captures the context of the encounter.

The best image I managed during the week was of a young Hobby, hunting high over Worth RSPB Res. As always, I am indebted to the technology within the Canon set-up which allowed me to record such a decent shot. The pale fringing on the upper wing and rump are not something I've actually picked up on through my binoculars.

This morning, my grand-daughter Emily and I took Bruno for a stroll along the Little Stour before heading across to The Duke of Cumberland PH for cheesy chips with bacon. Absolutely bang on and exactly how a walk with grand-dad should culminate?