Denis Healey?

extraordinary! Denis Healey, or a house sparrow, on the feeder.
It may be that a few feathers need smoothing down . . . .

male & female bullfinch together on the feeder, my presence didn't seem to put them off.

a nice jay in the Pyghtle, just after this pic. he was chased away by a group of great tits.

one of many young blue tits flitting about the Mere.

Saw a blackcap on the riverbank, opposite the Mere, back of the Pyghtle.

No photo alas.

First thanks to Sam for the previous photos. Like dancing pandas, things only seem to appear when I turn my back.

On site on a very wet Sunday to look at things......

and I always have to remind myself that this patch of tranquillity is only 10 minutes walk from the city centre.

It's taking a lot of effort to create the seasonal pond.............

and it will be a particularly attractive feature, believe me!

No more suggestions for the shape though, it's supposed to look natural.

Fish and Other Critters

I went back and got some pictures of the fish, though it's not easy to do so when they're small and underwater. These were in the mere itself, right on the edge, next to the far end of the bridge. There was a shoal of about 50 or more.



Also spotted were both male and female bullfinches feeding at the same time. The male is the more colourful of the two, at the bottom.



I had my macro lens so I went hunting for smaller beasties. Here are some that I found. Note the three aphids line astern on the stem above the moth.

Fish!

Just went down to the reserve today and was astounded to see a 6cm greeny brown fish under the bridge nearest the river. Probably a fully grown stickleback, but my fish identification skills are limited. Lots of small (1-2cm) dark fish hiding around the edges near the next bridge, by the spit too.

I couldn't get a picture of the fish though, so here's a damselfly - a Banded Demoiselle I believe.



The ducklings were also out - just five of them, and quite grown up now. I also saw one or two moorhen chicks with mother, though they were darting amongst the fringes and so hard to be sure whether it was one chick going in circles or two in a row.



Finally - a picture of a ladybird larva for those that don't know what one looks like. They're quite different to the finished bug!

nice to see the regulars!

the male bullfinch again, no sign of the female

the great spotted woodpecker













a grey heron in the bog area,
hunting for frogs I think

a welcome visitor

a male bullfinch having a nice feed, like all birds that

visit, half seems to be discarded on to the ground.