Mallard in the flood

During the summer months the small meadow beside the tiny brook at the bottom of the narrow valley is perfectly dry except for one or two damp patches where rushes grow and the grass is a lusher green.

Along the meadowside edge of the brook the tall, pink-flowering, willow-herb grows, while a row of pollarded willows border the other bank. The brook itself is mainly spring-fed, being the amalgamation of two smaller brooklets a short distance upstream.

For most of the year you could walk along this brook without seeing a duck of any description. What a transformation takes place, however, after a spell of prolonged rainfall during