So far this Spring the number of young birds observed in the garden has been much lower than in previous years. We have only seen one juvenile great-tit, a young goldfinch and possibly a young robin or dunnock or both.

However yesterday, on a trip to the University Park, young coot, egyptian goslings, ducklings and a young moorhen were observed.

Coot young at various stages of development. The oldest (right) show no trace of the red/saffron colouring around the face and head.

Two of three egyptian goslings, clearly a lot more recently hatched than the brood of six still thriving at Attenborough – as reported on the Easter special Springwatch.

I counted seven of these fluffy cygnets snoozing close to one parent on the launching slope of the boating lake. Cute eh?

Finally, on Spring Bank Holiday Monday, we saw this canary in a neighbour’s garden. We managed to catch it and with a bit of local advertising managed to re-unite it with its owner five days later. It had flown best part of a mile so it is a lucky bird!