Reservoir

It has warmed up a lot over the last few days, so this morning, we decided to have a longer walk all the way around Mapperley Reservoir. It's a little difficult to do this walk during the winter as the paths a usually too wet and muddy, but now things have dried up enough to allow a good stroll. Shortly after starting around the reservoir, we were greeted by a small patch of Wood Anemones (Anemone nemorosa).

Wood Anemones are a good indicator of ancient woodland due to their very slow spread - taking about a hundred years to spread just six feet.

Looking up, the trees were beginning to show some pale green new leaf growth, but not enough yet to block out the sky above.

Round the other side of the reservoir, we were surprised by the sight of a male Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) slumbering on the bank with a female Mallard.

There was no sign of a female Mandarin, but this colourful little chap didn't seem too bothered.