Sunny

A glorious morning for a walk, so after finishing the cleaning this morning, Malcolm and I set out for a walk around the farmland and the old West Hallam Colliery.  Along the pathways, the Bird's-foot Trefoil plants are in full bloom and looking glorious.  Adding yet more yellow colouring to the edges were the Creeping Cinquefoils (Potentilla reptans).

This particular plant was attended by a small caterpillar, but the bright, yellow flowers were like little rays of sunshine.

The twittering of a juvenile Swallow caught our ears and a glance upward revealed the bird struggling against the wind, trying to perch on an overhead wire.

Eventually it managed to get a grip on the wire and settled down a bit, still being knocked about a bit by the breeze.  The first time I have been able to get a picture of a swallow as they don't often stick around long enough to 'snap'.

Lastly for today, as we headed home, I was trying (unsuccessfully) to get a picture of a Small Skipper butterfly, when I spotted another small insect close by.  This one was being more cooperative and I was able to get a good picture of this Sloe Bug (Dolycoris baccarum).

More Young

A short walk around the lakes again this morning revealed still more youngsters.  First to catch our eyes was the Great Crested Grebe nest on the largest lake.  I think it is the second nest this pair have built this year - the first having seemingly been abandoned a few weeks ago.  This time, the nest has been constructed, floating a few feet away from the bank of the lake and is attached to weed so it moves about with the changing water levels.  It seems that the eggs have started to hatch as at least one youngster was seen on it's mother's back while the male brought in small morsels of food for it.  Try as I might, I couldn't get a picture of the actual chick, but there's still time.

The male bird was being kept very busy, swimming about with his head under the water searching out food for it's chick.  What a delightful sight!

On to the next lake and a family of three Coot chicks were being rather vocal in their demand for food from their parents.

Looking like small, red-headed alien life-forms, they would be well advised not to put too many demands on their parents as they are notoriously bad-tempered towards their chicks and may attack and kill them if 'things get too much' for them.  But for now at least, things were calm and relaxed.

Lastly for today and at the same spot where the Coots were feeding, a harsh cry was heard coming from the nearby reeds.  Closer inspection revealed a young Moorhen with it's parent hiding in the vegetation.  A little older and bigger than it's Coot cousins, this little chap (or chap-ess) was keeping it's head down, but not it's voice.

Odds and Ends

Only a short walk this morning, as we needed a little shopping more than we needed a long walk.  So, a few 'odds and ends' pictures from some earlier walks.  Starting with the Pyracantha flowers which are covering the bushes in our garden and the hedgerows of Shipley Park at the moment.  There are so many of them, that their individual diminutive size doesn't matter at all.  They're stunning.

The Meadows are equally full of flowers too.  The Plantains and Buttercups are being joined by the Spotted Orchids to add even more colour.  The grasses are growing so tall now, that in some places it's becoming tricky to see over them.

Getting down a little lower, you get a 'fox-eye- view of the meadows and from closer-up, they are like a flowering forest.

Longhorn

I have mentioned on several occasions, the wonderful, Longhorn Cattle which are to be found in the fields of Mapperley Village.  On our walk around Shipley Hill yesterday, a very different animal was to be found with the same name.  This creature was considerably smaller than the cattle and to be found creeping about on the stem of a Hogweed plant.  Say hello to the Longhorn Beetle...

To give it it's full, common name, it is actually a Golden-bloomed Grey Longhorn Beetle.  It has an equally impressive scientific name of Agapanthia villosoviridescens and in these pictures a male and female pair were locked in a passionate embrace.  When ready, the female will lay her eggs in the stems of several plant species - including those of the Carrot family as with this Hogweed - where the lava will develop, pupate and finally leave via another hole eaten into the side of the stem.

Quite an impressive little beetle, it's antennae are particularly noteworthy and give the animal it's common name of Longhorn.
Close by the Longhorn beetles, a flowering plant also caught my eye as being something new to me.  It turned out to be a Long-stalked Crane's-bill or Geranium columbinum.  Small, but beautiful.

Goose

I mentioned the other day, the single Greylag Goose which was accompanying the Canada Geese on Straw's Bridge.  Walking around that lake again this morning, the goose was still there and looking rather fine in the strong sunshine.

Still trying to blend in with the Canada Geese, this Greylag (Anser anser) looked rather more 'regal' with a haughty expression.  Greylags are the ancestors of most domestic geese and are the biggest of our wild geese.

Very few Greylags can actually be described as truly wild in Great Britain.  The vast majority are feral or semi-domesticated.  Truly wild Greylag numbers are boosted in the Winter months by an influx of migrants numbering  more than 91,500.  But this handsome individual wasn't bothered in the least about all that, just the appearance of a bread bag.

Orchid

A beautiful day for a walk in the park.  So, this morning, we set out for Shipley Hill and we were glad we did.  The first of this year's Common Spotted Orchids have just begun to open their flowers.  Always a joy to see these...

As we got nearer to the top of the hill, the grassy meadows were full to over-flowing with the flowers of Red and White Clovers, Sorrel, Plantains and especially, Buttercups which almost glowed in the sunshine.

On the Old Hall site, the Larch trees are also beginning to produce their distinctive and rather pretty cones.  Pictured against the colourful backdrop of the last of this year's Rhododendrons, they looked even more gorgeous.

Everything seemed to be feeling the 'joys of Spring' and these little, blue Damselflies were 'doing what comes naturally' in the meadow.  Somehow, you tend to feel a bit uneasy about pointing your camera at them when they're engaged in such an intimate pastime, but they didn't seem to care.

Baby

A quick walk around Straw's Bridge again today to 'check on' the ducklings.  All ten are still there with both parents still keeping an eye on them.

By another of the lakes, a Moorhen was strutting about in the grass looking a little uneasy, when the cause of her anxiety came running from the undergrowth.  A well-grown youngster, looking like a miniature emu, was running about like a dervish squeaking constantly.

By 'Swan Lake' the usual gaggle of Canada Geese was busy demanding bread from all and sundry...

... and among them was a Greylag Goose which seemed to be trying to blend in with it's Canadian cousins.

As Malcolm observed,  "birds everywhere".