I took a different route around ANR this morning. From the car park I went east taking the path towards the village green and then turning right towards the Trent. I avoided the Wet Marsh Path as it was looking quite muddy and instead followed the path alongside the Trent to the Barton Lane path and returned to the car park. These are the highlights in the order that I encountered them.

This male goldeneye was reasonably close to the shore on the Church Pond so I was able to get a clear image.

A female reed bunting posed nicely for me on some bulrushes between the path and the paddock behind St Mary’s church.

I caught a glimpse of this tree creeper from the Trent-side path but it seemed to disappear quite quickly. I waited for it to re-appear and soon realised that it was entering a cleft in the tree stump and, judging by the left hand image, it was building a nest. This was a golden moment which I shared with anyone passing that might be interested. An awesome spot!

Just when I thought my trip could not get any better I had my first local view of a great white egret in the field on the far side of the Trent towards Barton. There were in fact two and a little egret for good measure.