This lake was named after the Duke of Connaught, who was the first Ranger of the forest, and is popular with both people and water fowl. We saw ducks, geese and other types of fowl.

This lake covers about 10 acres and when we were there in August we saw a lot of dragonflies, Black Tailed Skimmers (Orthetrum cancellatum), whilst walking around the edge. Beautiful creatures!

Some people seem to think that dragonflies sting - they don't and neither do they bite.

Birds? What birds? Oh those birds - yes there are quite a lot aren't there?

Bird numbers are probably inflated by the arrival of winter migrants, mostly geese, and they are all bright enough to work out that people can be providers of food.

Permit me to introduce you to Bella. She is one of the English Longhorns that wander around the forest. You can see the back end of one of her friends further along the lane on the opposite side.

How do I know her name? She has an ear tag with her name on it. She seemed mildly curious about us but was really more interested in finding more tasty morsels.

Ganoderma sp., a bracket fungus on a beech tree.