- THIS must be my year as far as raptors are concerned. So far, I've held a saker falcon, had my arm seriously squeezed by a golden eagle, watched Worcester's own peregrines high up in their eyrie on the Glover's Needle and now, to cap this ornithologically bountiful bonanza, I can report the sighting of an osprey.

I was walking near the mouth of the Taw estuary in north Devon, casually observing cormorants.

They were drying their wings on a spit of sand, perching like so many currants stuck on top of a bun, when my attention was drawn to a large bird of prey carrying a fish in its talons. Bird and fish dropped to the ground, where the former started to make a meal of the latter. A few moments later, some serious twitchers confirmed we were in the noble presence of Britain's rarest eagle. I'm so glad he stopped off for some nice sushi mullet before heading for his winter quarters in far-off Africa.

- NOW that the Environment Agency is considering building an earth bund to protect Hylton Road from the floods, could we have the courage to admit the barriers were never going to work?

They were always a knee-jerk reaction, mere expensive posturing by the authorities. So before politicians start salivating at the prospect of more press photo sessions, could we please have some firm assurance that the earth movers will soon be rumbling over the river bridge?