Maybe I’m obsessing a bit about sedges and rushes at the moment but I risk a trip in half-term to the London Wetland Centre to see what else I can find.

I have to fight my way through families to escape into the quieter Wildside where I find what I think are the last few fruits of Greater Pond Sedge.

On my way back to the visitor centre, I see American Galingale and then in the Pond Zone a luxurious tussock of Common Clubrush, which is also in the sedge family despite its name.

Focusing on finding plants rather than trying to birdwatch was definitely the right thing to do. The hides are filled with tiny people having their first taste of birding even if the noise means they’re not likely to see much. I have quick look and see gadwalls, a great crested grebe, Egyptian geese, widgeon and coots as far as the eye can see.

It might be rowdy today but the sedges aren’t bothered.