Another Wildlife‑Rich Week at the Lake

After last week’s kingfisher spectacle, this visit began with a very different kind of bird drama: helping John and Jan shoo off a cormorant before clearing vegetation from the stream exit. Once the job was done, it was straight into the familiar rhythm of tea, cake and good-natured banter, with Jan in full flow, sharing stories from his commercial diving days.

While we sat by the buddleia, the lake delivered one of those rare summer treats: three hummingbird hawk moths feeding alongside large whites, commas and red admirals. Jan grabbed his cameras to try and catch the action. Overhead, a small group of long‑tailed tits flitted through the branches, and the insistent cry of a young buzzard, newly pushed out into the world, echoed around the valley.

The wind had eased since last week, so I returned to the same swim, same method, same bait. A little loose fed sweetcorn and almost immediately a crucian appeared, possibly the same fish from the previous session. Then the reeds began to twitch, bubbles rose, and the carp moved in. The float slid away and a lovely light yellow carp of around 7lb came to the net.

After that, the fish went quiet, leaving me to enjoy the blue damsel flies, several golden‑ringed dragonflies (their larvae live in the stream, not the lake), and the constant chatter of a nearby wren. The reeds kept moving but the bites didn’t come. Little and often with the feed, eventually the float dipped, missed. Again, missed. A slight adjustment to depth finally brought a bream of about 1.5lb.

The regular feed soon attracted mallards and moorhens, milling around the float and tangling the line until the landing net persuaded them to move on. A calling black‑headed gull passed overhead, then calm returned. Two more bream followed, plus a small rudd that took the bait on the drop.

Time was nearly up when the float lifted and slid sideways. A firm strike, heavy resistance, and a cracking double‑figure carp, around 12lb, rounded off the session beautifully. Another fine day of wildlife, graft and rewarding fishing at the lake.

Julian Little

MAC Secretary