Fowl

The weather this morning hasn't been as bad as the forecasters had promised.  Over night, we certainly had our fair share of rain and the flow of water in the Nutbrook was evidence for that.  But at least we managed to get a walk out to Straw's Bridge - mostly in the sunshine.  A couple more pictures from yesterday's walk to Osborne's Pond this afternoon.
A couple of weeks ago, we were alarmed to see a mother Swan and her family of (I think) seven cygnets, stuck in the overflow channel of the reservoir.  The adult was finding it impossible to scale the concrete 'weir' so the tiny cygnets had no chance.  A call to the park rangers however, sorted the problem and a temporary set of 'steps' have since been made to allow any unlucky waterfowl to scramble back up to the reservoir.  It was good to see that the swan family is still in evidence and that the cygnets - although now reduced to four - are doing well.  Yesterday, they were enjoying a few crumbs being thrown in from near the fateful overflow.

As always, 'mum' was keeping a close eye on her progeny....

... At the same time, we were being eyed with curiosity by a couple of Mallards on the bank.