A walk on the wild side

Like so many other people, my interest in birds stems from watching them in my village garden when I was a kid.

I spent hours and hours glued to the window, seeing what was coming and going. I hung feeders on the washing line, much to my mum's annoyance. Blue tits, blackbirds, robins, house sparrows... and I remember the excitement I felt when I saw something out of the ordinary - a flock of long-tailed tits, a goldfinch or a fieldfare, and on one occasion, a tree sparrow! My heart skipped several beats.

Birds were my first love, but in more recent years, I've strayed and become interested in other creatures, too. That's why I went for a walk along the River Great Ouse, not far from The Lodge.

At first glance, this particular stretch of river doesn't look anything special. The Great North Road is close by, with lorries bustling past, so it's not peaceful. This path isn't well-worn; the nettles and cow parsley try to reclaim what is rightfully theirs. But those plants are all-important here. This is the land of the scarce chaser, a rare and beautiful dragonfly.

Scarce chasers are - as their name fails to suggest - not as rare as they used to be. It's only a few years since they sneaked into Bedfordshire along the Great Ouse, and this is one of the best sites to see them. I started with grand plans to walk a few miles along the bank. On a humid spring morning, we saw a total of 45 in less than half a mile! No need to go any further...

After up to two years spent as a fierce, ugly larva, on the riverbed, they emerge in mid-May as bright orange beauties. For me, they're at their most beautiful then; later, the males turn powder-blue and the females darken. The chasers perch on the nettles and stems, basking and hunting. They fly into the air and snatch small insects, returning to their perches to munch their meals (you can hear them!).

As if the glorious dragonflies weren't enough, this riverbank holds more attractions. Banded demoiselles. Thousands of 'em. They flit and flutter among the nettles, chasing, resting, feeding and displaying. I remember seeing these damselflies when I was a child; I watched them skip over the surface of the Nene and wondered what kind of butterfly they were. Now I know...

Though I'm getting better at some insects, I know next to nothing about plants. Or fish. The ones we saw in the river near the lock were whoppers! They must have been 18 inches long, and sported appendages on their chins - they were barbel. Ten-pounders. Or so I was told. Big, bottom-feeding fish. So there's something else for me to learn about...

I think that's what I like about nature: there is always something new to learn or see.

What do you think?

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