Mavis

After a very chilly few days, it felt a lot more springlike on my walk round Ferry Meadows. Lots of summer visitors have arrived now - swallows were swooping low over the horse meadow, no doubt feeding on dung flies and other insects, while the sky above was full of chattering house martins.There were several common terns feeding over the lake, and I saw the first sedge warbler of the year, trying out its song rather tentatively.

But my heart was particularly filled with joy when I heard this song thrush singing in a secret corner. Numbers of this familiar bird have declined markedly on farmland and in towns and cities, and it is now on the UK Red List. It seems to be holding its own locally, and we are lucky to have one whose territory includes our garden, where there are plentiful snails for it to eat!