weekend firsts

Walking around Bedford and down by the river without binoculars I can identify a good 25-30 different types of bird. (wren, robin, blackbird, song thrush, grey heron, black-headed gull, chaffinch, great tit, blue tit, moorhen, coot, mallard, muscovy duck, mute swan, canada goose, greylag goose, common tern, treecreeper, green woodpecker, crow, lapwing, wood pigeon, collared dove, magpie, pochard, tree sparrow etc) but yesterday I heard my first cuckoo of spring. So notoriously difficult to spot as to be taken for a ventriloquist and as mole so poetically put it; 'Ah, smaller birds nests are being robbed and taken over even as we speak"'

Today I'm off down to London to see my first ever marathon take place. Having talked others into this hare brained scheme, I spectacularly failed to get a place leaving them to run on their own! I'm disappointed of course but I think relief is the greater emotion at the moment! So I shall be muscling my way through the 26 mile street party to try and get 5 seconds of shouting 'go team waterstones' or somesuch.