Fishy

Like City Birding I too trawled the Reeth Pond this week in search of Dragons but despite it looking perfect and some strong sunshine with shade from the breeze, I found ....zip. Just a few Damsels. The fish though were very active. Not sure of I.D. so any help appreciated. I think above is Chubb but they were big, about 18 inches which the book says is too big so maybe Barbel but I don't see any (barbels that is). Had trouble getting my fixed zoom far enough away to get the whole fish in but these chaps below were smaller with the red fins and eye suggesting Roach but if I'm Rudd y wrong then so be it. Sorry about the picture quality but you never have a polarising filter with you when you need one.

Hundreds of small fry basking on one of the platforms as well. Safe from bigger fish but I'm sure the Kingfisher will be in amongst them. Had one staked out on the Tyne nearby but failed spectacularly to get any shots and haven't managed to find the Little Egret that's supposed to be frequenting the area upstream from Ryton Willows.

I see the Health and Efficiency (or is that Safety) brigade have been trying to block off the riverside path near Moor Court. It requires a small degree of balance to stay safe but nothing too bad assuming your not a young kid or a blind bat. They obviously didn't wander up river where you can walk straight from the bridleway due south over a thirty foot cliff created by river erosion. No doubt we'll have some naked inspectors down there post haste.