Plantsbrook Nature Reserve.

Nice trip out to a very sunny and warm Plantsbrook Nature Reserve where I saw the resident Terrapin for the first time in about two years, not only that but I saw two for the first time ever and they were both loving bathing in the sunshine on the islands on the first pool, they have been a feature of UK waterways since the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle craze in the late 1980s prompted a rush of people to buy them as pets, only to dump them in ponds and rivers when they grew too big for fish tanks, which is illegal by the way.

Bird wise it was great to see a juvenile Grey Heron present, I don't know what the parents were feeding it but it was the largest juvenile Grey Heron I've ever seen in fact it was bigger than most adults. It was also great to see the Mute Swan back in the nest, can't wait to see the Cygnets when they hatch.

Birds seen were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Robin, Starling, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Grey Wagtail, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Coot, Mallard, Canada Goose, Mallard as well as the following juveniles, Great Crested Grebe (3), Moorhen (3), Coot (23), Canada Goose (10) all from the same family, there was also the nesting Mute Swan.

Butterflies seen were Peacock and Green Veined White, also seen were Wild Blue Geranium wildflowers.

The ten Goslings I saw seemed to the love the heat the tarmac was giving off in the road just outside Plantsbrook, I relocated them on the grass, much to the annoyance of the adults, where hopefully they stayed.

The only downside was finding three roadkill as I was exiting the nature reserve, two Woodpigeon and a Grey Squirrel, all of which I relocated in amongst some Ivy in nearby Pype Hayes Park, unfortunately the road outside Plantsbrook, Eachelhurst Road, is very known for boy racer activity being as it's a long stretch of road, which is always going to be bad news for the wildlife there, one year I found two Fox cubs in week alone, chavvy scum !