Charley and friend

Yesterday I met Charley and friend. I was photographing the bird life on Globe Pond - some coots and their chicks, moorhens, ducks and a large Canada goose. I heard a voice say "look - there's a photographer" and suddenly found myself feeling like a lesser-spotted-something. I turned around to see two lads, one on a bike, one gamboling around alongside. Charley says that he has lived there all his life, and they both attend the colourful school behind Globe Pond. They decided to adopt me.

After showing me the best place to find frogs and newts, and being hugely dissapointed that I wasn't taking any more pictures that day we bumped into Steve Cornish who heard my voice and came to investigate. He shook hands with my young companions and stood and listened whilst they told me of new and exciting places from which to photograph my wildlife. I was quite startled (and charmed) to find friendly youngsters in the park - my previous encounters with the local youth, mainly in the dock area, have been anything but pleasurable.