Entomologist Tim, whom I met during Covid and who knows the Wildlife Trust people, said he likes to have a picnic several times a week. I try to manage at least one. So, I took my salad to the Reserve.
I walked past the place where I found Nutkin. I looked out for hares. Saw one muntjac. Also a couple of kestrels and a buzzard. Long-tailed tits. Waterbirds.
When I got out of the car, I had felt lazy, once I was in the trees, I wanted to walk on and on. See and hear. But I had to get home for chores. So, I sat on a bench and ate.
On the way back, I couldn't stay on the ride. I followed a muntjac path into the reeds. Saw where they had eaten young shoots. Saw that willow with the exposed roots. Tried to work out whose prints were inside.
Beyond that, I was close to the water's edge. Still behind trees, but the birds saw. And once the coots issued their alarm and took off, it set off the rest of them. A hundred pairs of wings batting the surface of the reservoir as the birds rose. A hundred alarm calls. I felt awful. I had wasted their energy. I skulked back into the reeds.
And followed the muntjac path north into the trees.
I found an old blackbird nest.
What a perfect place for that carefully constructed home. In the spring, with the leaves around it. So safe. Even a nosy Crone would walk past without noticing.
Look at the far right, low down on that second image. The lichen and fungi. So beautiful. So absolutely perfect.
What a perfect spot for a nest!! And yes I saw the lovely lichen. Are the brown wavy ribbons below the lichen - are those fungi? Cool. How do you know it's a blackbird nest? And muntjac - you often mention them. Are they very common? Glad you had some time wondering amongst willows 😍