Apparently the Jupiter Urban Wildlife Reserve closes this week so we made haste to visit today. Surrounded by industry, the reserve occupies a site of old railway sidings.

Receiving a friendly welcome from our personal guide (see extra) who escorted us round the smaller sections, we wandered along tree-shaded paths past ponds to a viewing platform.
Here we watched the only birds awake - a pair of mallard and a flock of LBJ's, those wee ones that flit about the canopy with the sunlight behind them. I think they were blue tits or something sparrow-like... .

We were welcomed back to the entrance by our guide trotting towards us with tail raised and, after affectionate farewells we left.

The reserve is mainly aimed at children, with areas for story-telling, pond-dipping and the like but having the place to ourselves and the Ranger with her volunteers, was a pleasant walk on a sunny morning.