At one point, the footpath passes between the river and a large shallow lake. A pair of little grebes has bred on a lake for the last few years, but have always built their nest on the far bank, where the ground is wooded and rises steeply. It has been very difficult to get a view of the nest there, but this year, they are raising a second brood from a nest which is just a few yards from the footpath.

Many people have passed me, sitting on my stool with my long lens on a tripod, and looked around the lake to see what I am after. I think that very few actually saw the nest. Even when I pointed it out to the few who asked what I was doing, they had great difficulty seeing the little bird sitting on its mound of vegetation.