In Paradise

Today we visited the Paradise nature reserve. It is a great marshy, boggy piece of land beside a small river. There is a path going through it from its start beside the local park to the street going at right angles to our street. At the start of the walk we were right beside the river and saw many geese. Also there were mallard ducks, large white ducks and an eastern gray squirrel.

The ducks occasionally stuck their heads underwater, reminding me of a Beatrix Potter book in which the puddleduck family get some clothes and lose them in the water.  From that point on, the ducks always dip their heads under the water to look for them.

A little further on were sheep, a different kind from our Australian ones, and in the flock were two beautiful black sheep.

 As we continued the walk we saw snails, mossy rotting logs, ivy covered trees with moss on them and many marshy ponds and puddles. There were tiny birds and a rook or crow towards the end of the walk and as the land became higher and drier, budding snowbell flowers became numerous.

Before we went home we visited Grantchester meadows and I got some great photos of a robin. The meadows were lovely and green but very muddy at the time.

When we got home we looked up some questions we had had about the animals we saw. Two of the questions I had were "What were the gray geese we saw called?" and "What was that big white goose called?" When I looked them up they were both probaly greylag geese, large british grey geese from which all domestic geese are descended. The white one was probably just a domestic version of the greylag goose.

The walk was so much fun!