I went out at 6.30 this morning thinking I’d probably see pretty much the same things I’d seen two days ago. Reed buntings, yellowhammers, herons, redwings, chaffinches and some distant deer. I wondered if I might see a hare or two.

Well, I was not disappointed. I’ve seen a few swirls and heard a few heavy sploshes in the river recently, and today I was treated to this lovely head popping up through the vegetation and huffing at me. It disappeared pretty quickly, with just a couple more surfacings and no more huffing.

A bit further downstream I encountered the remains of a signal crayfish, which is probably something that otters love to eat. I’m used to thinking of these alien species as entirely negative, but if they are providing sustenance for our recovering otter population (not to mention the perch and chub in the river who like to munch on these delicacies) then perhaps it’s not all bad. I suppose the real concern is the spread of disease to our native crayfish, but in the Thame I suspect that these have been wiped out long ago by agricultural run-off, sewage spills and the like.