Monday 5th March (Some Sunshine)


Mr. Kite looked out of his bedroom window into a sunny sky with a few thin clouds. Against the sky the bare silhouettes of the lime tree were dark but the bud on the ends of the twigs had grown.

Feeling more energetic than normal Mr. Kite saddled The Beast and headed towards Venus Pool. The sun was bright and a chilly northerly wind blew. On the way there Mr. Kite stopped to watch three stock doves feeding in a field. When they eventually took to the air their grey bodies and black wing patches showed well as they flew in formation.

Venus Pool


The water level at Venus Pool had risen recently and signs of spring were evident with a pair of oystercatchers making themselves familiar with the surrounding before building their nest and a male great-crested grebe developing his breeding plumage. On the pool mallards, wigeon and teal swam. A flock of lapwings sat on an island. In front of the hide a green sandpiper fed in the shallow water. From the east five curlews flew in and landed on the waters edge.

Suddenly the lapwings and black-headed gulls took to the air as three common buzzards came into view. In the clear sunny sky their black and white underside showed clearly. It seemed that once the flying flocks had recognised the three buzzards they returned to the ground.

Monkmoor Lagoon


Mr. Kite then cycled to Monkmoor Lagoon where mute swans, canada geese, mallards, pochard, tufted ducks and moorhens were on the water. A grey heron fed near the reeds. With the light fading Mr. Kite then cycled home for a tipple of Tetley tea. Cheers.