Lilac and red campion now in flower on my visit to ANR on Monday.

My usual stop en-route into the reserve produced an unexpected visitor to the bird table. This female mallard was chased by passing dogs but still returned for another feed.

Along the Trent-side path I was delighted to bag another warbler, my first sedge warbler of the season.

From the same vantage point a couple of long tailed tits kept alighting on a leafless twig which was handy. The white flecks in the background are midges.

Finally, from the garden, a starling excavating one of the suet filled shells, a reason to top up the birdbath in this spell of dry weather so birds like this bedraggled bluetit can freshen up and our local hedgehog enjoying a bit of sunbathing.