Thursday 18th. April 2013

So , there I was walking up the road towards the barrier , with a cool wind blowing in off Tesco Lake and quite overcast skies . In the lake are a few trees , and just in front of them , what looked like a small mudflat . Paddling around the mudflat were two Great Crested Grebes , acting strangely . Usually at a distance of 10/15 mtrs. , they would be off as soon as they spotted me , but these two

looked a couple of times , then carried on in their furtive way . It looked to all intent and purpose that there was a 'drug deal' going down , but I ruled that out on account that the money would get soggy . . After a while , one bird climbed out of the water onto the mudbank , calling continuously to the

other , that just carried on paddling about . The bird on the mudflat even stretched out prone , calling even more vociferously , but to no avail . Eventually , the bird paddling about joined the prone bird on the mudflat , and after waddling around for a while , proceeded to trample all over the prone bird's

back and neck with gay abandon , much to the disgust of the prone bird , which was calling even louder . After a short while , even though the bird on the mudflat remained prone , the other bird went

back to paddling around . The scene reminded me of Penelope Keith / Margo in The Good Life saying , 'that's the last time I play the tart for you Jerry' .  I don't know if the paddling bird had an instruction book , but it climbed out onto the mudflat for a second attempt , but perhaps the book was

in a foreign language , as this attempt was no better than the last , with the upper bird almost falling off the one below , who by now was doing the equivalent of human screaming . Once again the second bird returned to the water , by now with a very quizzical look on it's face . The volume of

calling encouraged the paddling bird back onto the mudflat , and at least this time it was at the right end .It took a few more minutes before the 'Eureka moment' happened , by which time the prone bird

was either exhausted , or even lost the will to live . In no time at all the upper bird was off and

heading back to the water , looking very pleased with itself , with chest inflated , ear tufts pushed out and wings flapping . The other bird remained prone with a 'was it all worth it' look on it's face .
Today , I managed a look around the Common after lunch under clearing skies , finding my first adult

Slow Worm of the year , a good sized female on the heathland area , and in one of the glades , a

melanistic / black Common Lizard , a first for me . On the way back home , the juvenile Common Buzzard was still in place , three Swallows were feeding over the horse fields ,  and it appears that the first youngsters have hatched in one of the Rook's nests . The other nests still have birds sitting tight , especially in today's wind . I just managed to get home before thunder , lightning , hail and heavy rain was the order of the day . Carol didn't mind though , as we had cut the lawns before I went out .