Richard Smith writes:
First thing I headed out to the slag heap, the highest point by thirty feet for miles around. It’s a great vantage point with good views of a section of ice-free river that grows by the day. Good numbers of Harlequin and Long-tailed Ducks but the best views were of the local population of House Martins zipping around the still warm slag heap at head height or lower. They are plumper than our own and the white rump extends higher up the back; happy inquisitive little characters.
Today we intended to clean the house and prepare the incubation room but instead had to move house.
All the kit had to be moved once again, to a place six houses down the same lane, a house that would have been our second choice but, once we had moved furniture and started to sweep and clean, it quickly became apparent that this was probably the better choice, with more room and less clutter to move.