N 50.98644°, W 02.10839°
Last night's camp was a cracker. We were both awoken during the early hours with an owl call that neither of us recognised. We're guessing short-eared but even after a listen to our bird software it remains a bit of a mystery.
First thing after breakfast we went to Arne and had a wander round the RSPB reserve there. It's awesome! A lovely setting with a mixture of heath, ancient woodland and coastline.
We saw Dartford warbler, stonechat, a massive flock of wintering avocets, black-tailed godwit, huge numbers of Brent geese and a good few whimbrel, as well as the more expected stuff. Fantastic!
After Arne we went to visit the church at Moreton and the nearby grave of (TE) Lawrence of Arabia. The church is quite something. It was badly damaged in WW2 and upon its rebuild it had its stained glass windows replaced with hand-etched versions: they craftsmanship is just incredible. We visited on the advice of an elderly local who stopped to talk to us a couple of days ago and recommend it. He was right, it was well worth the visit.
From there we had a bit of fun fording a very little used crossing on the river Frome and heading off up a Byway. A chap in a Jeep or something similar had balked at it but the truck made it look easy. It was about 50 metres across but only about 60cm deep at its maximum; so well within our capability.
Post ford, we headed north and by late afternoon found the spot shown at the co-ordinates; we're going to kip here. It's a byway right at the top of Win Green Hill in the West Wiltshire Downs. Red kites are abundant and I even saw one having an airborne tussle with a buzzard. We're right on the tops and the views are brilliant. It's freezing cold outside with a biting wind but we're toasty in the truck.
The night sky is fantastic from here - the milky way is clearly visible.
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