Church parade at nine o’clock, stables at 10am. I had a lovely bathe at midday.
This afternoon Franklyn and I went out for a ride, and took revolvers in the hope of getting a shot at something. He fired at two old hoodies on the ground but missed. We went through a lot of scrub and marshy ground, saw a few snipe and kingfishers, also some shrikes and redstarts and countless wagtails – which are very common here and very tame. We saw some very funny bird – I’ve noticed them before flying just above the water down the canal – they are black and white, about the size of a woodpecker and have got a long beak. They hover in the air over the water like hawks. I hoped we might see a jackal, but they say they are more common further down.
An enormous liner of sorts has just gone down the canal, with the decks very brilliantly lighted up.
I have just heard a Zep. has been brought down during the last raid in England. It is great news.