Wildlife at the Finger Ponds

One of the things that I enjoy about going fishing again is being out in the fresh air, close to nature and taking in what's around you. The Finger Ponds are a great location, a few miles outside Nottingham.  They are secluded, quiet and relatively undisturbed. Not many people fish there as they are reputedly 'hard' waters. The few fishing trips I have made there recently have allowed me to take in the surroundings and note the wildlife present. As expected waterfowl predominate, with many types of geese and ducks present. Swans and Great Crested Grebes are frequent visitors and pairs of Oystercatchers are often seen flying over. Green Woodpeckers are seen and very often heard in the surrounding trees but the most unusual habitants of the ponds must be the Red Eared Terrapins. I was first told about them by a relative of a work colleague. A conversation about fishing at the Finger Ponds led him to tell me that once whilst fishing there he hooked a Terrapin. I had no cause to doubt him and when I got home I did a search and came up with this document. I then emailed my fishing guru and indeed he corroborated the story with a photo. I would have never believed that Terrapins could survive let alone thrive in such an environment. They are apparently quite a pest being detrimental to many bird species by taking eggs from nests and they also eat much of the dragonfly larvae.