May 3rd – Nice to see the herons out and about again. They went a little scarce over the winter and I was concerned we were losing them, but as the spring settled in I started seeing more of these dishevelled, mad looking fishers.

This one, on the canal bank between two scrapyards at Darlaston, was large and healthy-looking and regarded me with interest as I stopped to photograph it.

I love these remarkable and beautiful birds.