Early Breakfast

We were up and out not long after sunrise to do our Wetland Bird Survey for July. High Summer is not the best time for bird counting; the post breeding time is a quiet one, and with the trees in full leaf, spotting what is around is more difficult. In spite of that, we saw a good range of birds both on and off the water and the weather was perfect for the task in hand.
One thing we noticed, is that sadly, Ash Dieback has arrived on the trees around the reservoir. It has already wrought havoc with the ash trees in the Derbyshire Dales.
There were plenty of these Marmalade Hoverflies feasting on the Yellow Loosestrife.