Fish scaled down

There was enough rain during the week to encourage us to nip over to the river this morning and check out the Sea Trout situation. The air was crisp and a wonderful frost lay settled on the seed-heads of the umbellifers and thistles. The water levels were higher on the weir, but no fish were running it. We explored the over-hanging banks, discovering that there were still a few fair-sized Trout waiting in the dark shallows, some showing the scars of failed weir jumping and one sadly demised - we hoped that it had died after the final act of mating. When we arrived at the river, Rosie had seen a Little Egret flush from where the dead fish was and had probably been feeding on the body - I guess that Egrets must be our equivalent of the North American Grizzlies!

Also among the tangle of roots that draped into the water,
a Wren made its way quietly through the deep shadows - time to paint!