Spring still seems to be a long way off at the lake - there are no flowers except a few daisies and everything looks very bare. I was expecting a few hoverflies or bees but as there are no flowers, they are still absent from around here.

The birds were busy though - great-spotted woodpecker drumming and the great crested grebe were braying on the lake. They were joined by the Egyptian and Canada Geese today but little else.

There were a lot more great tit and I heard my first blackcap this spring - they have been in my garden for the last week or so. I also saw a wood pigeon which has been a very rare event over the winter when they are usually one of the most frequently seen birds here. And the kingfishers were busy racing across the lake as usual.

The birds seem to be getting more active now with quite a few pairs of wren and robin. A quick look for fungi on the way found this - I think it's turkey tail:

It seemed to be party-time when I drove through Pangbourne this morning - at least 35 red kites were circling over a house and there were none to be seen by the lake. The Tuftie's were in the middle of the lake having their mid-morning snooze.

There was also a partially leucistic Canada goose swimming with a couple of others - the main flock was in an adjoining field grazing.

It was a beautiful sunny day and because of all the rain recently, a mass of jelly-like algae had sprung up on the concrete steps. It appears from nowhere and looks very much like seaweed. The formal name is nostoc commune but it's also known as Fallen Star and Witches' butter. I googled this and there was an early belief that it was material from shooting stars that had fallen to earth.

There were three mute swans on the lake today, one very much by itself and being chased off by the other cob.

There were also many more birds singing - great tit, blue tit, blackbird......

And this robin who looked very pretty where he was.

A beautiful sunny day with a bitter north-west wind saw me at Beale Park today meeting Dave, another volunteer who is involved in a lot of bird ringing around the area.

Three mist nets were up, one over 6 metres high and were checked every 20 minutes.

                                                             Mist net, centre left

A female goldfinch was caught in the mist net located in the reed beds. I had always presumed that the goldfinch sexes were indistinguishable but Dave being the expert that he is, pointed out that the female's red face covers up to the eye area, whereas the male's extends slightly behind the eyes.

                                                         Female goldfinch in mist net

                                                       Carefully untangling

As the goldfinch had already been ringed last year, it was just a matter of an undignified weigh-in. She was placed upside down with her head and most of her body inside an old film roll case and then onto the scales. Larger birds are put into mugs but they don't seem to mind.

                                                          Undignified weigh-in

I made my way to the lake area - red kites were busy looking for worms in the grass and the Canada geese were being as noisy as ever.

                                                                 Canada goose

Two jays and a great-spotted woodpecker were also making themselves heard, while a heron hunkered down against the wind.

                                                                        Heron

As I was leaving a large flock of siskin were making their way over the lake to the alders on the far side.