Groby & Field Head Spotlight • MID-JUNE 2018 • Tel: 01530 244069 • Email: info@grobyspotlight.co.uk
Cats and Wildfowl in Groby
NESTING TIME has been in full swing throughout May – starting with a swan on the public side of Groby Pool in plain sight from the path. She laid four eggs but then disappeared – leaving the eggs for any passing fox. The nest has not gone to waste – a female mallard has moved in with her eight ducklings. On my most recent visit to the Pool, just one of the ducklings had been left on the Naughty Nest – I wonder what he had done wrong? On the glorious early May bank holiday weekend I sat in my garden and watched fascinated as a blackbird built her nest. She flew to and fro all day carrying nesting materials in her beak, using the picnic table as a launching pad to dive deep in the ivy that covers our fence. Lovely. Except that next morning I discovered that she had completely vandalised the newly prepared straw-lined hanging basket I had foolishly left on the table in order to line her nest. I visited the Pool late on Bank Holiday Monday – knowing that the waterfowl would be stuffed to the gills after such a fine weekend- and sure enough, the feeding area was knee-deep in bread. Even so, my lovely Simon the cygnet came out of the water when I call him – just for a stroke and a chat. The Barn Hills woods were thick with bluebells and I was lucky enough to see a badger making his brisk
way home. At least one pair of swans has mated successfully – they and their four cygnets have taken up residence in a quiet little backwater at the far end of the Pool. Simon is flourishing as there are fewer adult swans about. I even spotted him recently with his wings raised over his back as he sailed across the water to meet me. Little show-off Our cats have been enjoying the warm weather and so far they haven’t brought in any nestlings. I doubt if Peter, our young ginger cat is capable of catching anything that moves. Even when he is offered a piece of chicken he has to walk round it three times, sniff it and pat it with his paw before he finally decides to eat it. He’s such a large and ponderous creature it’s easy to forget he is still technically a kitten, albeit a teenage one. Olaf seems to be growing more eccentric as he gets older – hurtling round the house, up and down the stairs, in and out of the cat flap. I’m sure he can see things that are not visible to us mere humans. I visited his banished sister in Skipton this weekend. She clearly loves being an only cat, spoiled rotten by my granddaughters and safe from her mad twin brother.
Lindy Hardcastle
Sorry I’m late. I got here as soon as I felt like it.
I’m actually a reverse vegetarian. I don’t eat leather but when I go out I wear corned beef shoes.
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