After plenty of rainfall (always useful for a pond!) we have had some glorious sunshine and nature is making the most of it. The yellow flag irises have put on a big display and are now beginning to fade.
Along the banks we have the very obvious buttercups and hidden in the grass below you will find the tiny blue flowers of speedwell and the pink Herb-Robert, our native geranium.
Above the water you will see the elegant blue damselflies pairing up to lay eggs. And on the subject of eggs, there has been a couple of moorhens bobbing around for a few weeks now. Could they have a nest somewhere?
Mallard ducks will have paired up by now and that usually leaves a number of bachelor ducks with nothing much to do, and we have had literally flying visits from some of those. Better luck with the girls next year maybe.
Mr. or Mrs. Heron calls in from time to time and I have mixed feelings about them. They are spectacular birds and wonderful to watch but they do eat rather a lot of frogs, newts and fish which is rather sad but I suppose is the natural order of things.
The island is becoming covered in bracken and the grass on the banks is growing. There’s a temptation to tidy this up but vegetation cover on the margins of water provides vital protection for all the emerging young species so we’ll leave that well alone.
I wonder what we will see in June?
Neville Merritt