29 July 2017
Very quiet as it is now the end of the breeding season. A brief burst of Reed Warbler song, glimpses of Reed Buntings, but a very large 50+ flock of Goldfinches. One of the unexpected benefits of the Envronment Agency being short of money is that they do not cut the grass on the riverbank. There are lots of thistles - Goldfinch food! And other flowering plants. Hencee lots of butterflies. We saw Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown ?Common Blue and Tortoiseshell all along the bank.
Flowers in the ditches included: Flowering Rush Botumus umbellatus, Great Willowherb Epilobium hirsutum, Water Mint Mentha aquatica, Gypsywort Lycopus europaeus, Meadow vetchling Lathyrus pratensis, while in the ditch there was lots of Frogbit Hydrochaeris morsus-ranae and some Yellow Water Lilies Nuphar lutea. 
A family of Mute Swans were doing well with 5 young.
