Lake Life Summer 2025
by Steve Songhurst
This summer, the wonderful warm weather has made the lake a popular place for visitors to stop and just enjoy nature.
All the main water birds – Canada Geese, Mallard Ducks, Coots & Moorhen – have had multiple youngsters to feed and raise the next generation. With a fifteen minute ‘stop & sit’ at the lakeside you can marvel at the youngsters learning the skills they need to survive and prosper.
You can also watch ‘Vinny’, our argumentative Coot, who seems to love picking a fight with any other bird he comes across!
There are often a couple of grey wagtail birds swooping down and catching a meal, in the shape of the hundreds of damselflies dancing across the surface of the lake.
On occasions we also have the odd gull or two visiting the lake, with the sole intention of trying to find a snack, in the shape of a young duckling, or moorhen chick ☹.
If you are patient, and stay a little while longer, you may be lucky to spot a kingfisher, as it flashes across the lake to a favourite fishing perch.
In the afternoon, when the temperature warms up, it is wonderful to watch a female emperor dragonfly dipping her abdomen into the water, as she lays an egg into the stem of the floating water weed.
Ella Fitzgerald once sung the memorable line “Summertime and the living is easy”. Why not take a few moments of your busy day to unwind and float away with nature this summer, with a stop at our wonderful lake 😊.
