The weather was dreary today, another example of our less than wonderful met office getting the forecast wrong, how many times have you heard me say that. Sunny spells were forecast and instead, we had very low cloud and at times, fine rain. Why is it so hard for them to predict the weather I wonder?   So, it was a case of going out and making the best of it or sitting indoors all day long and in the evening too.  I went out to look for the Great Grey Shrike that has been on Aylesbeare Common for the last few weeks. It had been seen up there today so there was a good chance that I might see it.   When I got there it was even more damp and dank so I didn't linger for too long after a cursory look had drawn a blank. On my way back home I popped in to Darts Farm just to see if there was any sign of the Penduline Tits that I have yet to photograph but I think it will be just a matter of time if I visit often enough. I stood chatting to an interesting young man, just killing time really and as the afternoon turned in to an early January dusk, the resident Water Rail popped out and put on quite a show, eventually jumping up to perch on the fence. It stayed there for a good 2 minutes before hopping down again in to the open in the field. By now, even with my camera set at really extreme levels, (1/100s  f/6.3 at 500.0mm iso3200),   only one of the dozens of photos was just about OK and worth posting.

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