Myrtle awakes

This morning, after 16 hours and 32mm of steady rain, the moorhen's nest in the millstream beneath our window was awash. This was clearly a situation on Myrtle's mental chart of things she could deal with, and she went straight into action. Normally a pair would work together to reinforce a nest, but one bird on her own can still do the job.

She pulled iris leaves to pieces and dragged them to the nest. Any suitable piece of leaf or twig in the vicinity was called into service and she swam to and fro collecting them. Each piece was inserted and woven in with care. She even bent over whole iris shoots.

After half an hour's work, the platform was well out of the water.

And then she went away again.