At the visitor centre, we hear that otter have been sighted at the public hide so we make our way there. Swans dabbling close to the hide, a great crested grebe and her chick swim through rafts of pinkish weed and white feathers scattered upon the water. Close to the reeds, the otter swims past swans and grebe, surfacing now and again. The marsh harriers are about. I spy a female in the branches of a dead tree. It's far off so I alert a photographer next to me to confirm it. He tells me it's a dead branch but he's looking at the wrong tree. Its mate flies into a willow and appears to be eating. The harriers fly, against the sky, amongst swifts, and strong sun highlights the colours of their plumage. Jill and I enjoy the peace of the place, the shade of vegetation and of the hides in a heat-wave, and the companionableness. Sotto voce, we share sightings and information and that's great because we like to learn. From somewhere in the hide red-throated diver is called. You have to be alert, ready to sift-out fake-news, it's the great-crested grebe she's looking at.
Thanks to Natural England for a speedy identification of Thalictrum flavum, Common meadow-rue. Lesser Meadow-rue is frequent on the limestone of Scout Scar, a very different leaf and a smaller plant.