A ‘plopping’ sound as a fish breaks the surface and ripples widening out. You are at the edge of the lake now, the pebbles under foot, crunch, a moorhen is disturbed and runs off along the banking, distracting you from it’s nest. A kestral attracted by the disturbance, hovvers above the next field. The smell, of water and ‘ozone’, warmth and living. You lay down on the edge of the water and peer into its depths, you only see pond weed and small insects at first. As you remain still, layers of water somehow become apparent, the open light layer with minnows darting about, the next darker layer, a large carp is sitting, watching you as you watch him. Then the dark bottom of the pond, the brown silt moving with life.
The dragonflies catch your attention, landing on a bullrush nearby, you lift your gaze for a moment to see them in their metallic blue finery. From the corner of your eye you see a shape move in the water. You look back and realise there are loads of fish, you never noticed before, you saw their black shapes but did not recognise them as fish. There is another ‘pop’ sound and concentric circles form on the lake, a Moorhen runs away startled.
