Jazz got us to the blind where we were most likely going to spot an Osprey. Serious camera equipment protruded from the breasts of bird watchers. The guide installed there was getting radio updates on the Osprey’s whereabouts. They had been nesting here only since 1999. The first Osprey chick to fledge in central England for 150 years was hatched in 2001. It was pointed out to me where the artificial nesting poles stood and I craned for a look at the nest at the top but saw nothing. I concentrated more on the body of water and what lie beneath. It had a rather desolate feel to it, scraggly treetops poking from the surface, like desiccated hands waving for help.

Osprey-deprived, but not for long. We were off to visit friends of Siggy and Jazz who live in a stately renovated farmhouse in nearby Exton.