Sometimes you have to just drop it all and head on out. In our case, this meant throwing together a picnic and heading out to the back end of Margam country park.
Stopping at the wooden adventure playground to allow my daughter some time to play, we leisurely munched our way through salads and sandwiches, and basked a little in the afternoon’s warmth.
“Look at those ducks, dad! Can I go and have a look?!” she asked, pointing to a flock of Canada geese milling around at the edge of a nearby lake. I saw no harm in it, so told her she could go, at which she bounded over without a second thought. She walked over to within eight or nine feet of where they stood and, due to the packet of crisps in her hand, immediately had their attention. Without thinking, she walked a few feet closer to them and then emptied the remainder of the packet onto the grass, and it was only when they began waddling in Elle’s direction that I noticed how they were standing.
Those keenest to reach the free offerings, who hadn’t taken their eyes off the little pile were a horde of soft brown goslings. But as they spread out and moved forward, I noticed a small ring of adults around them – males, all on guard duty. A crèche, then. The little ones seemed to strain to investigate what had been left for them, but the wise old heads simply shuffled a little left here, slightly to the right there, herding the youngsters back to the safety of the water’s edge where they continued to graze.
A couple of confident rooks detached themselves from the bedlam of the rookery in the treetops behind us. Unhurried, the geese guided their charges slowly further around the lake, signalling time for us to move on.
We rounded the lake, all the while laughing and keeping our eyes on the geese keeping their eyes on us, until we neared the path up to the hill trails. We rounded some bushes and there, not twenty feet away from us, five roe deer lifted their heads suddenly. They’re not an uncommon sight and are used to human contact, so they didn’t bolt as we approached. Nevertheless, I moved my family outward to give the deer a wide berth until we were up the gentle gradient and sitting near the path, about a hundred yards or so from the deer.
Teas all round. I poured from the flask and handed Elle a chocolate biscuit. As we began to get stuck in to our refreshments, we watched on as two stags emerged from the bushes less than ten yards from where we had just passed the does. They must have known we were nearby earlier, and decided that we were no threat, but still I couldn’t help but consider it a close thing.
“Look at those, dad!” Elle said, pointing down at them.
“Yes love, handsome, aren’t they?” I replied, pulling her in slightly closer to my side.
