Under high clouds of Cirrus Intortus twisting their ice crystals away thousands of feet up we headed for our weekly outing to the Durham Woods. There was plenty of blue sky to illuminate our way and birds were singing like mad but we could see few of them.

Halfway through the woods Clifford suddenly stopped and whispered "Dad, there is a Deer  over there" and indeed his sharp eyes had spotted a Roe Deer with its back to us . Really exciting! I was  sure there would be another one nearby because they are often in groups  and indeed there was just behind it. Magic. Because quite a few people walk and run through the Durham Woods the wildlife is familiar with human beings.

It got even better 100 m further on. I heard a Nuthatch whistling but could not see it and just to the left there was a familiar thwack of something hard banging against a branch which could only be a woodpecker. The Greater Spotted had made its appearance! It had its back to us and unusually was  stationary indicating a lot of insects and grubs in the tree. More magic!

Last week in the woods quite close to Durham Cathedral we saw a fork in a tree had become split and I said  it was about to fall and then proceeded to walk underneath it and stand there because it was a good spot to look at the birds. This had the lads laughing their heads off. I am contradictory ! Anyway, today about a ton and a half of tree had fallen sometime in the past few days and I was  glad I was not standing there when it did. Going out into the English countryside these days feels slightly edgy what with all the landslides and trees falling down. Good fun.

Fiona was a bit wasted with her sinusitis but game enough to do a 4 mile walk which is what I love about her. She has pluck! However, riding back in the car she was asleep within 5 min.

When we got back Miles was still beavering away at his mathematics, goodlad, and Fiona and I had a crash and a cuddle listening to "Old Ideas" by Leonard Cohen. At the back end of this very mellow day I am about to get the food going to feed the hungry hordes. God bless family life and God bless my friends.