I was lucky to spot a beautifully marked silvery sea trout from the locked gate bridge last evening as I was closing up the hide. It was darting from the shadowy margins into the clear mid-channel to pick off passing inverts and the sunlight lit him up like a flash bulb. To me this represented a more acceptable dining etiquette than his cousins witnessed last spring, that gorged themselves on higher life forms as I have blogged about previously.
The shoal of dace were present throughout the day picking insects off the surface sheen just south of the concrete bridge, a favoured refuge and there is sure to be a pike somewhere in the vicinity awaiting its moment to pounce. However, the last pike I saw on the reserves was busy disappearing down the neck of a grey heron on the North Pool, so clearly they don’t have it all their own way!
Photo: Grey heron with jack pike © Allan Neilson