Sunrise over the Lake
Right less of the nostalgia. An early morning start saw me at the lake for around 7:35 am and with the Pike rod set up and the Sprat baited up on the hook, it was cast out into the deepest part of the lake by the dam. It wasn't long before the float dipped and after waiting the obligatory 10 seconds I set the hook and up came with probably one of the smallest Pike I have ever hooked. Any smaller and I would have mistaken it for the bait I was using. At 2 lb it was a bit on the small side but at least I wasn't going to blank. With the fish returned I recast and waited for the next encounter.
2lb Pike
By this time the sun had just come up over the horizon and a small gaggle of Canada Geese decided to try their luck and land on the water. Big mistake!! The resident cob Mute Swan had other ideas and for the next 1/2 hour the six geese were succumbed to a continuous chase around the lake. There was no way they were going to stay on the lake and the cob had a go at just about all of them, grabbing their tails and giving them a good scrap. Eventually they gave up and took off with the cob in flight right behind them. Unfortunately for me he landed right smack on top of my float, but heh that's life. The fish will be back.
A sharp reminder on whose lake this is!
And that goes for all of you.....
We've had enough
Mission accomplished
Once order was restored I knew it would be awhile before I caught anything, so it was rod down and binoculars to hand to have a look around and see what was happening around the lake. For starters it was quite noticeable that there were quite a few Black-headed Gulls, of which a few were now starting to change into their summer plumage. Why they are called Black-headed Gulls is a mystery as their heads are chocolate brown.
Also about were small flocks of Siskin and Goldfinches. Every now and then I could hear the call of a Redpoll, but all were flyovers. Another flyover was a Cormorant which having done a couple of passes of the lake decided to alight on one of the tall trees overlooking the water. With such a good lookout it wasn't a surprise to see it take off and do a bit of fishing.
Cormorant on his high perch
Once the drama of the Mute Swans and Canada Geese had died down, I was pleased to see the float go under again and this time give me a cracking fight with a 10 lb Pike. Great fun and once weighed and photographed it was returned to the water to fight another day.
10lb Pike
The rest of the morning was very busy with Great Spotted Woodpeckers hammering away, Long-tailed Tits fleeting about behind me in the bushes and Great Tits & Blue Tits calling continuously. The sun was out for a little while and this seemed to bring the whole lake to life. Male Chaffinches were singing their hearts out and the Jackdaws were doing what Jackdaws do, being very noisy. The highlights of the morning were a Raven, Water Rail and Stock Dove, which were all new ticks for me this year.
Jackdaw
However the afternoon was a totally different, though not heavy, the rain fell all afternoon and birds, fish and just about everything slowed up. A few Fieldfare passed over but all in all it was very dead. At 3:10 pm I packed up and headed home. As I was loading up the car I noticed a Blackthorn that was just coming out in flower. This must be the earliest I've ever seen one in flower.
Blackthorn in flower
Before I headed off I did a count of the birds seen and heard and came up with 43, which isn't too bad from one location.. En route home I came across a Common Buzzard by the main entrance to Stanton Park and managed to get a photo of it before it flew off.
Common Buzzard