Emergency gull

After a busy morning at home I decided to ignore a dubious weather forecast and risk a trip to the owl field. The further south I went the better the light got and the more my spirits lifted, right until the moment I crested the hill above Temple Guiting. At this point the top of the scarp came into view on the far side of the valley, revealing itself to be enveloped in thick cloud, which chose that moment to burst. 

No owls for me today.

I quickly turned the car and headed back northwards, where the sky promised better weather, calling R as I drove, and agreeing with him to meet up in Stratford for coffee, cake and walking. We managed to synchronise our arrival perfectly - both with each other, and with the rain, which for a few minutes was even heavier than it had been in the Cotswolds. By now I was Not Pleased, but the rain eased after a while, so we were able to get our steps in after all. Of the few birds I snapped as we headed into town along the north bank of the river this Black-headed Gull pleases me the most, though I was rather too close to it for the amount of lens I was using. The convention with nature photographs is that there should be space in the image for the creature to move into, and I do generally compose my shots in this way, rather than filling the frame as has happened here. But the bird is sharp from stem to stern and from eye to claw, which isn't bad for f7.1 at close quarters, so on balance I'm happy with the photo.

This evening I went over to Chipping Campden for the penultimate rehearsal for our performance of Elijah tomorrow evening. I'm looking forward to the concert - and to being on the other side of it so I can stop practising, and maybe even listen to some other music while I'm driving around.