Thanks to Ben for sending this…
The Progress Pride Flag is fluttering proudly outside Abingdon School during LGBTQ+ month.
The Progress Pride flag was created in 2018, based on the mainstream Pride flag but with the addition of a chevron which is comprised of black, brown, blue, pink and white to emphasize the inclusion of Black, Brown, and trans people in the LGBTQ+ community.
Thankyou to Daniel for this view of Abingdon’s Abbey Meadow open air pool.
The L-shaped pool had a £1.3 million refurbishment and was back open in 2018 and 2019 and very popular.
Like other open air pools it did not open in 2020.
The White Horse Leisure & Tennis Centre is open, as is the Hinksey open air pool, in Oxford, but the opening date for the Abbey Meadow pool is yet to be announced.
So we are trying to be patient.
Meanwhile the play area is open and very popular and people have been using the space of the park.
There has also been a litter bug detective trail.
Four cygnets feed on the pond weeds in the Mill Stream near the Abingdon Sword Bridge.
Seven Moorhen chicks on a log on the Mill Stream pick for passing food.
Near where the Mill Stream rejoins the River Thames by Nags Head Island, the island is covered by daisies and the young geese feed naturally on the grass.
The River Ock is a stream that flows along the Vale of White Horse, mostly through fields and villages, but for the last half mile, before flowing into the River Thames, there is a shady tree lined walk between the houses of Abingdon called the Ock Valley Walk.
There was a heron near the walk today.
The close season for catching fish in rivers runs from 15th March and until 15th June and has ten days to go. This allows the fish to spawn in relative safety and protect fish stocks.
The close season does not apply to herons. This one was waiting patiently, standing still and relying on stealth, quick reactions, and excellent eyesight to catch its next meal.
The bushes and trees along the walk are at their finest in early June. The leaves are fresh and green. Birds are singing in the canopy.
Birds sound so close but, most of the time, they stay well hidden from my not-so-good eyesight.
There are places where the fish can be easily seen in the fast flowing shallows, heading upstream.
They could be feeding on what they can filter from the water. The adults might even be spawning. The heron is at a safe distance away.