Good and bad parenting...

I spent a lovely morning in Richmond Park where the unbroken sunshine almost  made it feel like Spring.

My main blip was part of the first burst of shots I took on reaching the park, so I could have quit then and saved myself the chore of sorting through a further 500 frames!

The blue tit patiently hanging upside down to feed insects into the maw of its voracious offspring was obviously an example of good parenting.

A few hours later by Penn Ponds, whilst mum and dad were busy preening themselves without a care in the world, I watched in horror as a very large carrion crow descended on the four adorable fluff balls in extra shot one. The crow actually had a cygnet by the neck and was about to take off before myself and another photographer intervened. At this point the pen remembered that she'd left something in the grass and waddled over into a more protective position. The cob meanwhile just carried on preening - typical bloke!

The squirrel makes it in as extra shot two for being fairly cute and for actually being the first shot of the day, taken as I walked past the golf course on the way to the park