The strong midday sunshine made for lovely conditions for our Healing Nature birdwatch at Hetton Lyons. Once the site of a thriving mining community, nature has since reclaimed the site and with careful site management, the ponds and nearby bushes host a wealth of wildlife wonders.
Out of the large pond, pochard and tufted ducks mingled with a fledged family of little grebes (dabchicks), while the army of mallards and mute swans congregated nearer the shore. Coots and moorhen crept through the reeds, teaching their young how to surreptitiously avoid predator detection.