Being Good Friday, the park was packed with families and this had edged onto the lake area. There were a lot of fishermen about plus a very barky dog who was making the Canada Geese panic on both the river and the lake. The first signs of Germander speedwell are coming up:

It was very light on birdlife today - no signs of the Egyptian family, no tufties around and not much else. I can't imagine the fishermen have an effect on this especially as I tripped over some equipment and made one of them nearly fall in the lake with shock having woken him up.

I went into the park as I had dropped a friend off there with her daughter. It was very sunny and the acouti were noisily snoring in their tree-house:

The meerkats were snuffling around with the guard being very vigilant:

 

And the prairie dogs were having a good sunbathe too:

 

 

The lemurs were snuggled in together having a good wash and brush up:

And one of the wallabies was having a long drink in the water trough:

The first thing I noticed on getting out of the car was a heron sitting down on the jetty. I thought it was injured but seemed quite content and then as I got closer stood up and flew off:

The Canada Geese were also sitting enjoying the sunshine:

And a crow was enjoying an apple left behind by someone:

The Egyptian Goose couple were down by the water having a snooze but got up as I approached. There were no sign of any goslings at all so I am presuming that the family are in the Park and this was a different couple.

As I moved on, I was joined by the kingfisher who was just about to settle on a perch, saw me and did a swift right turn. The coot took no notice:

Ground-ivy was in a solitary patch in the copse and quite a large patch of summer snowflakes are just coming out:

It still looks very wintery in this area with only the snowflakes giving out any real colour. There were a lot of white-tailed bumblebees around though and honey bees feeding on the willow blossom. The cormorants were in their usual tree on the other side of the river. These were the only two I saw on the whole visit:

There were a few more wood pigeon around today, plus the chiffchaff and blackcap singing. I also heard the first grey wagtail in quite a few weeks.

The Egyptian Geese still have their full quota of babies this morning - in fact, they have been joined by one more, making a total of seven. There was a dog around the lake today so the parents were moving a lot more than yesterday which gave a better view:

It was a very noisy morning at the lake. The Canada Geese were not in their usual tight group but scattered around all of the lake and grassy areas, all of them making a real racket. They were joined by several coot joining in:

And the great-crested grebe were out braying as well, but without much luck. I haven't seen any courtship as such yet:

The tufties were sticking to the middle of the lake while all this was going on, trying to keep out of the way of all the geese:

The woods were busy as well. There is a favourite area of mine, where, in the summer, there are always chiffchaffs and blackcaps, with kingfishers and grey wagtail dashing through. In the winter it's a good spot for siskin and long-tailed tit flocks. Both were there today, the siskin being so noisy on the alders I thought that it was a nuthatch at first. There was also a lone white-tailed bumblebee on the willow pollen:

A single buzzard was soaring overhead along with the usual red kite who were displaying today:

A first for a hoverfly as well this year - eristalsis species which look just like honeybees from a distance.

It was a day of firsts for this year; the first chiffchaff I have heard this spring was in the copse by the lake and lesser celandine were out on the grassy towpath:

There was also the first family of Egyptian geese with 6 goslings, the mother sitting close by while dad stood guard:

As I was leaving, a crow was trying it's best to grab a youngster, with the male Egyptian chasing it off. I don't think it will be long before the numbers diminish as the crows are relentless.

The lake was also busy with the usual mallards who looked lovely in the sunshine:

Greylag geese joined the usual residents today:

And the Canada Geese were mainly on the shoreline grazing:

In the woods, the honeybees were busy on the willow blossom, most of them laden down with pollen. A bumblebee was also out and about in the sunshine and in the same area, tree-creepers were squeaking to each other. It's a good area for them to nest with lots of dead tree stumps and branches, so I will look for signs of them soon.

Quite a few long-tailed tits were flitting around the woodland but were too far up in the trees for a decent picture:

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.