In view of the sunny weather we joined many other families at Highfields (University Park) for a stroll yesterday afternoon (25th).

We are indebted to Jesse Boot (Baron Trent) for gifting this delightful park to the people of Nottingham.

We saw this little egret near the shallow pond created in the last couple of years by excavating a rough grassy area adjacent to the Tottle Brook. Many years ago the Tottle Brook flowed through a paddling pool at the west end of the park that I remember using often in the 1950’s. The nearby bus stop on University Boulevard is still called Paddling Pool. After lying derelict for decades it has now been landscaped into a pleasant seating area.

It was a good day for colourful ducks on the boating lake. Illustrated are, clockwise from top left: a pair of teal, a male common pochard, two drake mallard and a pair of red crested pochard.

We saw a couple of coots already sitting on their somewhat ramshackle nests. They are easily distinguished from moorhen (right) by beak colour.

One of this pair of greylag geese has unusual colouring around the head.

Finally some news about the NTU peregrines. It appears that the female of the pair has been found dead and another female has taken her place. See Peregrine Nest Cam | Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust for the latest news.