Sorry for the couple of days of radio silence. I'm sure our readers wondered what was up. Well wonder no more – both of you. The husband (that's me that is) and wife team that forms the core of UKNB operations has just introduced a new life to the world – a bouncing baby girl!

Honestly it's sickening how easy it looks in the documentaries: a female deer gives a sneeze and out pops a young fawn. Which then stands up within minutes and is prancing around, evading predators and generally behaving like a miniature adult before the day is out. It seems terribly wrong that humans must go through many hours of agony, exhaustion and dangerous complications, to produce a youngster that can't even hold its own head upright. I think we'll try laying an egg next time.