This morning I took Miles driving again and he is really getting it. This is a big load of my mind as well as his! This afternoon because the lads felt unwell Fiona and I went out on our own for a walk around Durham. The weather was very cloudy very low cloud in fact but when walking with my lovely wife it feels like the sun is always shining. As soon as we started walking into the centre we had the surprise of our life when we saw three Goosanders cruising around the River and one of them hunting for fish. It has been nearly a year since we last saw them on the River Wear and they are a welcome addition to the diversity and interest of the area. They are a joy to see not least because there are only 2600 breeding pairs in the UK and around the 16,000 pairs overwintering. A rare treat. It is interesting that we mostly see them over the winter period. I have also seen them last year right in the centre of Leeds which was totally amazing. These birds are pretty wild and that was the case today because when we first saw them going into the city centre and they were on the opposite side of the river they had no problem with our presence but when we saw them roughly in the same spot going back to the car we were on the same side of the river as them and they saw us and flew off. They certainly like to keep their distance. They are also known as saw bills because of the serrated nature of their beak which enables them to keep the fish firmly gripped before swallowing. Today we also saw a couple of herons and it is quite startling how well camouflaged a heron is against water. One of them was right beneath the weir and was quite hard to spot so much so that Fiona couldn't see it for a few minutes. It made me think in a speculative way that about the only predator of a heron is a fox and it can only approach a heron from land but when the bird is in the river I do wonder if it is quite hard to see with its grey and off white feathers. Who knows but I will look this up. We had a great cup of coffee at Starbucks and that old romantic feeling kicks in. Of course it does not last long because we are joking too much to get really heavy man. When we got back home we came in all giggly and considering the boys were very subdued with whatever bug they have got we both just pointed out that the show goes on. A nice afternoon. Oh, I also met a good old friend of mine Alan Riley who I have not seen for a few years and he is a drummer who plays with various bands in the Dales and tomorrow there is a blues jam night at the Town Hall pub in Richmond and I am going to play their with my harmonica. It will be a bit of a blast from the past because I used to play in a band with him when I was 16 right through to when I was 18. I reckon I'll see quite a few old faces from my past as well and that will be nice because some of them I will not have seen since the 70s. Something to look forward to!