BIRD NEWS:331

My next stop on the Easter Saturday Arundel trip looked out over an island with a pair of shelducks resting upon it. I was almost sure of identification, as I had seen shelducks just the week before when visiting Pulbourough Brooks with Liz and John - but I did double check the ID board to make sure I was right - which I was.

I next wandered past the Trumpeter swans enclosure. I wonder if they will make a nest and have another brood of young this year? Their juveniles vanished between my last two trips - whether they were set free, taken to another reserve, or released in the wild, I have yet to learn.

Despite the ducks and staff only notice, the swans and geese were quite at home in the field by the lake, munching grass for lunch. When Liz recently asked me if I was planning to renew my annual membership (that she had gifted to me for my 50th birthday in 2016), it was the swans that made me agree that it was likely I would do so. I was planning to join for one year every 2-3 years and take breaks - but the swans are like a TV soapie - and I can't wait for the next installment - of natural reality!