 
ButtersSunday 28th May 2000
  
WALL BUTTERFLIES patrol the towpath. We pass four or five of them during a ten minute walk. The Hawthorn blossom is still looking good, despite the rain and a hail shower. Tiny green haws are already showing where the round petals have fallen. Three calves (they look like Jerseys or a Jersey cross) have come down to the canal at a gap between the thorn bushes. As they drink, two cows move in behind them. Two of the calves back off and hurry away, leaving the third flanked by the newcomers. First one cow head head-butts the unfortunate calf, then, as it sways get out of the way, the cow on the other gives it a blow. It soon manages to back off and runs off after the rest of the herd. Red Clover is in flower again amongst the grasses. There's a chick visible in the Dunnocks' nest. It looks almost as large as the adults, but it still has yellow along the edge of its bill.
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