Wednesday 15th. May 2013

Another  Winter-like day today , but after being confined to the house yesterday , I had to get out , so wrapped up well , and made for Kelsey Park in Beckenham , which in the conditions , found that I had it almost to myself . By the lake , the wind felt like I was back on top of the Cairngorms , it was bitter . Not a single gull was seen today , they must be all off breeding , so it was quieter than usual , but the Canada Geese in particular , were doing their best to keep the noise level up . My main objective was to see if the Nuthatches were nesting in the large London Plane , but 20 minutes watching their favoured hole , not a single movement was seen . I suppose the female could be on eggs , so I will make another visit in the near future . The pair of Grey Wagtail were on the path nearby , but before I got either in the viewfinder , they flew over the safety fence , stopping briefly on

the wall before flying to the island . A bit further around the lake , a Grey Squirrel appeared from the vegetation with a slice of bread , obviously health conscious as the bread was wholemeal , and

proceeded to have it's breakfast in front of me . Staying on the 'grey' note , across the lake , an adult

Grey Heron was stalking it's breakfast in the shallows . Several Coot and Moorhen nest dotted around the lake , and young Coots seen too , but the most interesting nest was this Moorhen one , looking

like it was built in the roots of a tree that has appeared in the Beck , just before entering the lake . Just hope all is finished before heavy rain and the whole lot gets washed away . Across the bridge and onto the other side of the lake , and tucked well into the edge of the Beck , a female Mandarin with 8

very recently hatched ducklings , the male was not far away watching over the family . I wondered if these might be the pair I photographed looking for a nest site in the trees in the area . It was then back

to 'grey' , when this proud pair of Greylag Geese waddled in with their 9 goslings . Although small ,

the goslings knew exactly what to do with some seed that someone had left . Not to be outdone , they

were followed by a pair of Canada Geese , with exactly the same sized family , and the adult on the right made sure that the noise level was ramped up on their arrival . Over the lake , 10/12 Swallows were hawking for insects , and although the conditions were bad , I spent some time trying to

photograph them in flight . Needless to say , the vast majority went straight in the bin when I got home , but had there been better light , one or two might have been passable . There appeared to be

fewer youngsters in the heronry this year and with it , less noise , but this nest had three juveniles , two having a good workout , the third looking like it had the hump about something or another . Once again I hoped that an adult would return with food whilst I was there , but again it didn't happen . I

did get a close flypast by this adult though . At one end of the heronry island , is the biggest nest that

I have ever seen , measuring at east a metre high , but the strange thing was that it seemed unused . That was until I had a closer look with binoculars , which revealed that squatting is alive and well in

the realms of the Greylag Goose . I would love to be there the day the goslings take their first steps into the big world outside . At 1530 , the sun came out briefly between the clouds , too little , too late .