Basking

Today I did my nature reserve walk early, and was pleased to find that the warm, bright morning had brought out a lot of insects. I even spotted a few basking dragons, including this female Common Darter, who was sunning herself on one of the fence posts of the beaver enclosure. I didn't manage to find any of the Brown Hairstreaks who have their own special area of coppiced blackthorn in the south-east corner of the estate - but finding these tiny butterflies in even the most promising habitat is such a hit and miss affair that I was barely disappointed, and not at all surprised.

After walking all of the marked nature trails, and having a chat with a couple of chaps from the local Wildlife Trust, who were doing a bird survey at one of the lakes, I went back into the holiday village and spent the rest of the day with the family. This afternoon we went swimming again, and this evening we had dinner at the on-site restaurant, which was pretty good. I'm really getting to love this place - though being emotionally attached to both my children and my kidneys, I fear that the tempting opportunities the estate is now dangling in front of me to buy a property of my own here will have to remain unseized.