Crossword Genius

Bird present in plant by lake (4,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

snow owl

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'bird' is the definition.
(snow owl is a type of bird)

'present in plant by lake' is the wordplay.
'present' becomes 'now' (both can mean the current period).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'plant by' becomes 'sow' (I am not sure about the 'by' bit.).
'lake' becomes 'L' (geographical abbreviation).
'now' going within 'sow' is 'snowow'.
'snowow'+'l'='SNOW OWL'

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