Love was in the air today as I walked into the copse and saw a female Canada Goose sitting on her nest. Not a very good place to nest as it isn't very safe from predators:

The male saw me and came charging over to hiss at me to keep my distance. As I left, another couple were going through their courtship display in the water before mating. The male was keeping his head and neck very low and both were submerging their upper bodies in the water to splash over themselves:

Although ducks tend to find a new mate each year, geese bond and stay together for life. Mated pairs will not only raise their young together but also look out for each other over the course of their lives:

 

Walking further around the lake, I found a solitary cowslip:

And also an old piece of tree bark with a couple of lichens and moss on. I know nothing about these but am all set to buy a guidebook to help me. From what I could identify, the orange is common orange lichen or Xanthoria parietina and the grey is foliose lichen. If you look closely at the orange lichen, there are small cups present:

Swallows were playing around the lake today and in the large oak tree, three cormorants were sitting, one drying off wings. I haven't seen them in this tree before:

There were also blue tit:

A grey heron:

And a very poor shot of a singing chiffchaff's bottom:

There were a lot more flowers starting to show including white dead nettle, more lesser celandine and ground ivy.

I wandered into the park itself to try and spot some butterflies without luck. I did find a female mallard in a plant pot though, which she had also chosen to nest in last year: