Category Archives: Abbey Grounds

Abbey Millstream Through the Year: May 2026

1 Reply


At the end of what has been a very warm half-term week for late May, the Millstream has lots of wildlife. There were lots of ducks and a couple of swans with no young, but I have concentrated on the birds with young, as well as insects and flowers to be seen along its banks and on the water.

This female mallard has a single duckling. It is still small and fluffy, with brown-and-yellow down.

This type of bird is sometimes referred to as a “manky mallard”, a disrespectful name sometimes given to domestic ducks that have hybridised with wild mallards. They frequently show varied plumage, such as the dark brown and black feathers seen on the duck.

There have been lots of Yellow Iris beside the Millstream during May. As the month comes to a close, some of the flowers are fading and beginning to form seed pods. They are found on the margins of slow-moving water, and the Millstream flows particularly slowly because of fallen trees and growing reed beds.

This juvenile Moorhen has disproportionately large feet, which help it walk on floating vegetation. Moorhens are normally quite shy, but this one clambered onto the bank near me, tweeting, with no adult moorhen in sight. I think it is the same bird I saw a few days later nibbling water weed above the weir, again without an adult in sight.

In various places along the Millstream are Yellow Water Lilies. They have yellow, cup-shaped flowers, which bloom a few inches above the water. Their large floating leaves are disc or heart-shaped.

Damselflies can be seen in great numbers among the reeds and water lilies. I slipped into the stream just after taking this picture. The water only came up to my calves, but I did lose my glasses for a couple of minutes before spotting an arm sticking through the surface.

A family of Canada Geese regularly travels up and down the Millstream.

There’s lot of Blackberry blossom near or beside the Millstream, attracting lots of bees. This honey bee is carrying pollen on its hind legs.

I also saw this butterfly on the blackberry blossom. It may be a Large Skipper, although it did not seem particularly large.

Tree Trunk Chair

6 Replies


A tree trunk in the Abbey Gardens has been cut to form a chair. A horizontal cut forms the seat which, when I sat on it, left my feet dangling above the ground. The backrest has larger oval rings where the cut angled through the trunk. An old scar marks where a low down branch once grew.

Here is the same tree – a low-spreading conifer – about five years ago. The nearby bench has since moved, and a litter bin stands in its place.

On the subject of trees shaped by unusual cuts, this tree near Tower Close Play Area has been left where it swallowed the upper part of the fence.

Thanks to Michael for pointing out the tree chair. I remember another one – near the lower entrance of the Abbey Gardens – cut from a larger tree – possibly a redwood. That must be thirty years ago.

Abbey Millstream Through the Year: March 2026

1 Reply


To set the scene, here is the Millstream viewed from the concrete bridge built by the old Abingdon firm Cowley Concrete. This was early this morning, with the ducks all resting on the bank and the reflections perfectly clear on the still water.

A mute swan, one of two, gliding past with its reflection distorted by the water.

A pair of ducks going about together. Hopefully there will be ducklings to report before too long.

A moorhen moving through rippling water, the surface reflecting the brick fronts of the Thamesview houses.

One of the many robins that sing along this stretch of the stream.

A blackbird, fresh from a squabble with a rival, pausing on a low perch overlooking the Abbey Meadows.

Finally, a muntjac deer. I saw another two among the wilder bushes today, and also startled an egret, though neither stayed long enough for a photograph. This one lingered on the bank near the CEF industrial unit.

Abbey Millstream Through the Year: February 2026

Leave a reply


In late winter, wildlife comes closer to people and gardens. Near the Thamesview houses by the Millstream there is a bird feeder, and the spilled feed has attracted not only birds but also a muntjac and a squirrel.

Sometimes there is a pair of swans on this stretch of water. Sometimes there is only one. When they come back together, they greet each other with arching and dipping necks. Here they were feeding underwater and I was waiting for both to have their heads up together.

Moorhens usually keep close to the bank, and this lone moorhen appears to paddle at the centre of a swirl of reflections.

A song thrush is attracted to the ivy berries, as are other birds, though it is not always easy to spot them among the leaves.

With the sun higher in the sky there are bright reflections, and the Thamesview houses and bridge are mirrored in the water. There are small leaves on the weeping willows. Not many trees have leaves yet.

February has been mild, and the evenings have been getting lighter. Here the sun is setting at around 5.30pm, with darker trees and water reflections looking back across the Abbey Meadows.