Mandarin with Duckling

A much brighter and warmer day so I headed over to Stover for an amble.
Sundays are always busier than in the week but I have never seen so many people.
Walking around the lake was impossible with dogs, little kids on bikes and large groups of adults congregating to catch up on all their news.
Instead I went off and explored a new area where new paths have been cut across the heathland. I didn't meet another person then for well over an hour.
I saw a couple of Great Spotted Woodpecker parents with a young bird each. Both sets of birds were too far from me to make a good shot and the fledglings were flying well so must have been out of the nest for a while. I managed to find a couple of trees that had fresh holes in their dead trunks and have made a note to go back next year to try and photograph the parents coming in to feed the young.
Walking back to the car this female mandarin was busy keeping an eye on her three remaining youngsters. Earlier in the week she had five :-(
It was quite a task for her as they zipped about in all different directions.

The day has now turned into a lovely warm evening but Im going to (try and) resist going to the deer field. 

Day total 3.1 miles
Year total 478.5 miles