A Visit to the Idle Valley Nature Reserve

We visited the Idle Valley Nature Reserve today in Retford, Nottinghamshire. It is somewhere we have never been before. The nature reserve was built on former gravel workings and is next to the River Idle.

We saw lots of bird life, starting with some lovely greylag geese in the air. I've never actually seen them in flight before.

I don’t think a nature reserve would be the same without an egret or a heron, sat beside the lake.

Even though moorhens sometimes sit in trees and can even make a nest, I have never seen one eating from a bird feeder before. It obviously had a penchant for fat balls.

The lake was iced over, so the swans and the odd greylag goose were sharing the ice together. Some of them were having a good old preen.

The bird life found a bit of water that hadn't frozen over, so it was a free for all. I'm sure they will all be pleased when the lake has thawed out, and they can get on with doing what birds do.

The path around the lake is accessible to wheelchair users and is also pushchair friendly. There is also a visitor's centre with a cafe, which is always a bonus, especially on cold days.

All on all, it was a good first visit with excellent bird life, lots of walks to choose from and the scenery was lovely.