The back hedge is a riot of colour (and fruit)...

and a common darter dragonfly hovers over the surface of the main pool which is covered in green duckweed...

Autumn is here and a Comma butterfly was sunbathing on some blackberries today...

while a Speckled Wood Butterfly sits camouflaged on the wood chip path...

Eye to eye with a male Common Blue butterfly along the back path today...

A Peacock butterfly having a rest on the recently mown hay on the meadow...

and there are pink and purple flowers everywhere you look...

Delights of the day...

The main pool carpeted with a layer of green duckweed...

a Little egret hoping for a look in...

but a Heron plays, 'I'm the king of the castle'...

and a delicate Holly Blue butterfly suns itself on the path...

A Wren collecting food for her family...

and Azure Damselflies creating symmetry with reflections ...

Goldfinch in a willow sapling today...

A Starling in the sunlight...

A female Common Blue Butterfly on a sheltered path in the meadow...

It's ladybird season down the meadow...

One of the emerging Mayflies populating our riverbank today ...

A male Red-eyed Damselfly guarding his lily pad ...

Large Red Damselfly on the riverbank today...

A lovely sunny day with lots of micro life going on....

A pair of Azure Damselflies...

A male Banded Damoiselle...

An Ashy Mining Bee...

An Early Bumblebee...

and a hoverfly...

At the moment you can often hear the male Cuckoo calling...

you probably know his call - he sounds like this...

Male Cuckoo - Male Cuckoo song

but the female sounds very different - a rich bubbling chuckle - listen out for her too...

Female Cuckoo - Female Cuckoo song

Cow Parsley...

Cow Parsley and Buttercups...

and a fast retreating fox...

The meadows are full of yellow meadow buttercups...

a pair of cuckoos were flying about and calling...

and one coot family have young...

Whitethroats join the chorus on the back hedge ...

while a pair of Little Ringed Plover are hanging around the scrape...

It's a cold North wind but... in sheltered places,

 Moorhen young are mooching in the ditches...

and Chiffchaffs are chirping in the hedgerows...

Sedge Warblers have arrived and are singing in the reeds...

Lady's Smock coming up in the meadow...

and a Coot... looking good!

Male Smooth Newt ... swimming in a ditch...

Early sunshine on Easter Sunday morning and all the birds were singing...

a beautiful Chiffchaff...

a male Blackcap...

and a long tailed tit...