Peter Manning

Wardening Tues 21 July 9:20-11:50. Sunny and warm. 32 folk about that I saw, half were dog walkers. On top of that were a group of a dozen retired guys out for a walk - but no social distancing! 9 cars when I left. All paths OK but I have increasingly noticed that small gate to permissive path, and large gate to car park get left open. Canal water level seemed noticeably low. Cattle conveniently near northern boundary, all looking good, on their feet moving around and munching away. Always amazes me how you can get cattle so big purely off eating dry grass! Tail and ears very mobile against the flies. Birds all very quiet, but plenty flitting about. Saw a Kingfisher with a large fish in its mouth from the screens. At least 50 Greylags flew in in several waves, saw numbers of Sedge Warblers, and a couple of Thrush. Plenty of Butterflies, Damsels, Dragon flies and general bugs.