After ten – ten! – days of damp gloom, the sun has finally returned. Unfortunately it also brought icy pavements and coincided with a train strike, so my little outing today was very circumspect: a walk along the estuary. I revelled in the light and the reflections. All around I heard wigeons whistling, redshanks peep-peeping and the rising trill of curlews. On my return, I learned that a kingfisher has been sighted near the canal again.

Finally the New Year has begun!