It was bright and sunny this morning and dry, so the conditions were ideal. I armed myself with my camera, hoping to photograph some snowdrops and various wildlife. That's exactly what I managed to do. The children also took photos on our mobile phones, which was very encouraging. I can't tell you how pleased I am that they are interested in wildlife.
The snowdrops were beautiful. The ones in my garden are yet to flower so to see these on the reserve in bloom were lovely.
Just a small sample of the hundreds of snowdrops adorning the reserve floor.
Most snowdrops were found in remote places, away from the most used public paths so we had to do a bit of walking to find them but when we did there were plenty to see.
There were also many birds, which I also caught on camera. Unfortunately, some of the smaller birds were hard to see but I could hear them! When I did find an opportunity to take a picture most little birds were quick to fly away, but here's what I did take:
The robin was certainly not shy of the camera and followed us for a bit.
The lovely rosy colour of the male chaffinch. This bird was difficult to photograph as he would not keep still.
This chaffinch took to the air as I snapped away and I'm happy to have caught a picture of it in flight.
Now more commonly seen at the reserve, an egret. This bird was keen to keep its distance from me, so I couldn't get any closer. A duck photobombed this picture too!
There's plenty of moorhens here on the reserve.
Not an escaped pet but a ring-necked parakeet, now naturalised in the UK. I used to see plenty of these in London but for the past four years they've moved in to this area. Although a noisy bird, there's not many here at the moment to cause too much disturbance. This one stayed still for a long time, while its partner was on the move in the same tree. I only spotted about four in total.
Apart from the birds, there was more to see. The reserve is full of life and I hope that over the years it is loved by everyone as it is now. However, sometimes when I walk there I see rubbish such as food wrappers and drinks cans and bottles. It spoils it for those of us that enjoy the outdoors. Yes, there are picnic tables but there are also bins. Rather disturbingly, I also spotted a spillage in the springs. A nearby discarded milk drink bottle may have given away what it was but it's still not very nice to see. Please, please, please tidy up after yourselves! It's not just people that get affected by rubbish. To finish off today here are some more photos of the reserve that I took:
A nest revealed by the winter.
Reeds and a clear blue sky.
A lovely Hart's Tongue Fern. Here you can clearly see the sori, where spores are made (the straight, brown lines on the undersides of the leaves).
My husband spotted these snails.
The simple beauty of moss on a fallen tree.
Fungi on a tree.
The offending spillage. Not a nice sight but I wanted to highlight this. It doesn't take much to spoil nature, so please throw your rubbish away properly.
The rushing river. I couldn't see the local kingfisher today. Maybe another time.
So, why would I feature this on a grow your own blog? Well, there are bore holes on this reserve, where spring water comes from. Watercress was a staple food once and this was harvested here owing to the clean spring water (a needed condition for watercress). Not in use for this any longer but a good reminder of how humans used nature for growing food.
I hope that you have all had a lovely Valentine's Day so far.
