Strange creatures

Last week I was mainly cat-sitting. My friends and partners-in-folk-music Phoebe and Sylvia were on holiday in the Lakes, leaving me to look after their cats, Baxter and Emma, and Sam and Ombra. While driving to Sylvia's I noticed something green and wiggly-looking on the road. After seeing to Sam and Ombra, who showed me no gratitude, I returned to where I had seen it. Despite the constant stream of vehicles which had run over it, it appeared unharmed. I found a place to park and, during a lull in the traffic, dashed into the road and rescued it.

Then on to Phoebe's via one of my favourite bird watching spots. Unusually, there were a few vehicles in the lay-by. I parked behind a trailer and got out the binoculars. Coot. Coot. Coot. Lots of coots. Everywhere I looked was a small black water-bird with a white forehead. Quack. Mallard. Tufted Duck. I walked around the trailer and stood next to a red car with its door open. I noticed a heron, and two cormorants. The occupant of the red car was using binoculars too.

“There's a marsh harrier over there,” he said.

I swung my binoculars in the direction he indicated, just catching sight of the huge dark brown bird, bigger than a buzzard, with broader, straighter wings, as it swooped low over the reed-bed.

“Wow!” I said, “that's a first for me.”

“A first for me here,” said the man.

A flash of pure white plumage caught my attention and I was able to return the favour.

“There’s a Little Egret over there on that stump.”

“It’s all happening today,” he said.

I advertised the snake on the Rotherham Lost and Found Facebook page. Nobody claimed it, so Jake the Fake Snake stays with me.