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THE BLUE PATCH moves on and a rain shower makes its way down the valley.
The Craven District is a mountain limestone area in the Pennine Dales.
 Sallow or Pussy Willow, has the scientific name Salix caprea, the 'goat willow'. It's bud scales have opened and the furry white catkins are beginning to show.
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Across the river, the white goat is in it's winter quarters; a stable. It looks out over the stable door, framed in the doorway like an announcer on a widescreen television. Come to think of it, it's probably more interesting than anything you could watch on widescreen television.
No sign of the Sparrowhawk on its ledge today, just a single downy grey feather stuck to a cobweb. I notice that one of the bricks bears the stamp 'CRAVEN'. 
On the flooded field a pair of Mallards are swimming between the clumps of rushes, while on the open water a Coot proceeds in menacing fashion, head down level with the water, like a miniature nuclear submarine cruising along. A pair of Mute Swans are preening peacefully on the canal. Twelve Mistle Thrushes are perching on the power lines nearby.
