A trip to Cossington Meadows in the Soar valley to the north of Leicester brought a number of pleasant surprises recently. As I arrived, one of the first animals that I noticed was a Roe Deer looking at me through a gate. These delightful native deer were formerly relatively uncommon, but they have spread throughout much of the British Isles over the last 100 years and they seem to be still increasing in numbers in Leicestershire. The males have short antlers, generally with only 3 points, and the females do not have antlers. Mating takes place in July and August but implantation of the fertilised egg is delayed until January to ensure the young are not born until May or June. Usually there are two white-spotted kids born, one of each sex.

Searching through the vegetation by a nearby lake, I came across a much smaller but equally enchanting animal, an Emerald Damselfly. These are medium-sized damselflies, but are easy to miss as they often lack the bright colours of their relatives. They are rather uncommon in Leicestershire as they have rather specific habitat requirements, thriving in lakes with lots of emergent vegetation. They have a one-year life cycle, with the nymphs living underwater where they take a variety of small invertebrates. The adults are on the wing from June to September and they usually roost with the wings spread at an angle of 45 degrees, in contrast to most other damselflies that keep their wings together along the back whilst resting.

My third surprise of the day came in the shallow lake a little further along the path in the form of a Great White Egret. These large members of the heron family, growing to the same size as our native heron, are found here as occasional migrants with most records in our county coming from Rutland Water. They feed mostly on fish and freshwater invertebrates, which they stalk with the help of their long legs and neck. In our warming world, some species of heron that formerly bred in southern Europe are now to be found regularly breeding in the UK, including Little Egret and Cattle Egret, so this bird may soon be joining them. The Great White Egret can be readily identified by its much larger size, yellow bill and black feet.

Much as I enjoy exploring the natural history of our local area, there is no doubt that a visit to our larger nature reserves brings the possibility of seeing some of our rarer animals. Many of these areas are free and you can obtain entry to many others by joining the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust. For a fairly full list of local areas you can visit, log onto the Wild Places page on the website of NatureSpot (https://www.naturespot.org.uk/wild_places).