Moorhen Chicks

I called into the park this morning, by the Upper Lake, and noticed two Moorhen nests, which I hadn't seen before. One by the fountain, the other part way down the lake. I watched the moorhens on the nest through the long lens of my camera - and they seemed, agitated. Then, shortly after, we have two chicks swimming around by Dad! I didn't stay long enough to see how many there were eventually, but I was thrilled to have seen these. 

Afterwards, I took my eldest foraging for nettle tops, to try a recipe I've wanted to try for some time - nettle soup. Essentially, it is potato, garlic, shallot and 100g of nettle tops. Bit of a challenge when the power went out shortly before finishing, but the residual heat was enough. Its actually not bad. I'd never realised how fragrant nettles can be - they are often lost amongst the other plants from that regard. I did get stung once, while packing away some of the remaining unused nettle tops for the freezer, to use again. But I'm chuffed I did it.