The pink had gone from the sky and the sun was a half-circle as I walked up to Thrupp Lake this morning.

The sun cast a reflection on the water. Birds mounted from a tree root island and then settled back down.

Swans and geese came over to check whether I was the sort of human that brought them food and then decided I was a dead loss and drifted off again chewing water weeds instead.

I walked round to the other side of the lake; the camera started showing Err-20 and so I took the battery out for a few seconds to fix the problem. Two black-headed gulls were socialising on a fence and flew away as I approached. A cormorant or gannet or something dartlike flew over the lake but the camera would not focus and it joined other large dark birds in a feathery tree by the far bank.

Two Canada geese drifted over towards the reeds.

Then around by the little beach, by the main entrance, I started to see quite a few tufted ducks and a couple of grebes.

On the road by Thrupp Lake, I saw a man putting together a Jodrell Bank style camera with a huge tripod. I then walked around by the more out of the way lakes. There were three Muntjac deer on the far bank. As I left I saw the man with the large camera. He probably got much clearer images, if he even bothered with Muntjac – could have been after something far more exotic.

Malvin sent me this picture of a group of goslings on the cycle path beside the Mill Stream through the Abbey Meadows.

It is always a good idea to cycle slowly at that part on the path. There are pedestrians, and wildlife. In the new Highway Code, the “Hierarchy of Road Users” ranks road users in order of those who are most at risk in the event of an accident. It does not mention wildlife.

I was amazed last weekend to hear the loud sounds of fireworks during the birds breeding season. I have never investigated whether firework displays need to get a license.

Spring is here. Some birds are flitting about peacefully.

Some are having to battle to save their nest and eggs. This thrush and magpie kept diving each other with a nest in the tree.

Bumble Bees manage to fly with big bodies and small wings.

Butterflies have much larger wings for their body size. This Comma Butterfly is resting on a path. The Comma was in severe decline in the twentieth century and is making a comeback in the twenty first century. (according to https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/comma)