A greylag goose swam up to say hello

On such a lovely sunny day I decided to make an efficient round trip in the car to run a series of errands, hoping to minimise fuel consumption. I got to see Philip B for early morning coffee and chat, John W. for late morning coffee and chat, followed by a drive into Gloucester to stock up on ginger, garlic, lemon grass, rice noodles and fresh tofu. Yummy.

On the way home I managed to stock up on organic keffir and delicious milk at Jess's Ladies Farm shed. Then I went a short distance to the banks of the River Severn which was running fast, near high tide and with a lot of debris probably from recent flood run off.

My finale was a visit to Frampton Court lake which was wonderfully quiet, with only the sound of spring activity of geese, ducks, coots and occasional woodpeckers. Standing on the bank this greylag came to say hello, or rather more likely hoped for a bit of food. I do like this breed who are always in residence around the lake. Their goslings will appear soon. At the moment they seem to be pairing off or possibly reviving their pair bonds.

I've also added a couple of 'Extras' of a greylag soon after taking off from the lake to return to the meadows in front of the big house. A pair of great crested grebes swam some way off in the middle of the lake and between dives for fish I caught this one washing and preening itself. I like this picture as it is rare for me to see them stretching their wings let alone flying.