David

Several pairs of coots are nesting on West Park lake, as they do every year. This, with one of the birds brooding, is in one of the less sheltered spots. The nest is also very near the bridge, so there are clear views looking down on it.

Another visit to West Park, later the same day. The same greylag family were now on the shore of the lake not far from the bandstand. The six young gosling were all sitting in the middle of the footpath, while the parents kept careful watch as ever.

Common sedge flowering on the bank of the canal. These were at different stages on the same plant, almost in the shadow of meccano Bridge.

The greylag parents with their six goslings. When I spotted them, the goslings were on one of West Park’s patches of short grass, eating. The parents were both on guard.

Near by, there were two other adult greylags. I thought they might have been acting as additional guards, which greylags sometimes seem to do. But them the parents began to herd the young ones across the footpath and towards the lake. This brought the family party closer to one of the other adults, a bird which seemed just to be standing around, not actively doing anything.

As the family neared this bird, the parents started to get threatening. One, presumably the gander, hissing loudly, so the other bird retreated a short distance. The goslings then settled down on the footpath and the bank of the lake, an arrangement the parents seemed to accept.

Take a gentle stroll around West Park at a time when very few people are around, and there’s every chance of spotting at least one rat. Once anyone (or any dog) gets too close, they scuttle of to the shelter of the undergrowth. Their preference, as here, is shrubs and bushes where the leaves come close to ground level.

The coot chicks were several days old by now, but there were still no signs they were ready to venture out from the nest. They were, however, raising their heads higher, showing more clearly.