Leaving the Nest

A BACHELOR PARTY of Mallard drakes has gathered on the persistent pool of open water on the rushy field. In recent years this has usually dried out by now.

A Coot sits on its nest, which consists of a pile of rushes, at the shallow edge of the marsh.

The Robin brood left the nest this morning, as my photographer friend John had predicted. The parents call to them as they keep to the cover of garden shrubs and hedges. All five young have fledged successfully. We see one later, hopping off down the path. It has no tail but its legs are as long as those of the adults.
White and the taller growing Red Clover are in flower on the grassy verges of the towpath.

A cock Pheasant trots across the main road, luckily during a break in the traffic. It sits on the wall considering the chicken farm then swoops down towards the sheds.

At the nurseries I notice what a botany enthusiast once referred to as 'garden centre liverwort'. She thinks it's worth buying a potted plant just to have an example of this exotic looking life form! It is growing on the compost under a pot grown shrub. The humidity and the lack of competition suit this primitive plant. A miniature forest of spore-bearing umbrella-shaped growths sprout from the thalli, as the ground hugging 'leaves' of this plant should properly be called.

Richard Bell,
wildlife illustrator
E-mail; 'richard@daelnet.co.uk'