Valentines Park is not dead

A few minor miracles of urban wildlife
1) This morning the sun was shining at just the right angle so you could see right into the water and down to the bottom of the lake. Not only is it actually quite clear in spite of all the disgusting bread and rubbish that gets thrown in- but it was a mass of life: great pink clouds of daphnia and lots of little bobbers and wrigglers. No fish though, suspect cormorants have got them but
2) Dozens of neon blue damselflies in nettles by old boathouse.
3) Green woodpecker feeding in grass about 2 yards from picnickers (who of course were oblivious)
4) Sticklebacks by the dozen spawning in a couple of cm of muddy stream in the Wash area- the males flashing their red tummies in mating displays and groups of browner females waiting in the deeper water under the bridge ready for a dash upstream, like little mini urban salmon.
5) A family of baby foxes playing in the waste ground opposite our office window, while dad snoozes on the garage roof in the sun and mum uses a thrown out sofa as a daybed.