Sunday 9th August 2020 - No time for game fairs!

All of the outdoor events have been cancelled this year - which is just as well as I have been too busy - working, gardening, fishing and foraging. Without the distraction of game fairs I have been able to concentrate on the seasonal harvests as they come around. When it is wet, the river is good for sea-trout; windy, and the hill lakes fish well; calm and warm and it is time to head for the shore. I've caught more small bass this year than I have for a long time, with a sprinking of sizeable fish.

I have been working on Colin McLeod's book on flyfishing for mullet, and trying his fly patterns, but our local thick-lips are less predatory than his south coast fish, and they are very hard to tempt. Still, it's lots of fun to wade out among the shoals of the fish in the rivermouth. I caught a mullet and a garfish last night - frustratingly the mullet was hooked right on the end of his snout, so I don't think he really counts.

Natural history oddities include finding dormice in a bird-box near my mother's house, and, last week, finding a dead water rail in my garden, far from water.