Swaledale

We travelled from Richmond to Keighley yesterday via Muker - thanks for the suggested route Ian. The weather deteriorated during the morning but we had time for a few images of Swaledale, including the barns and stone walls.

Richmond Yorkshire

We had an enjoyable walk around Richmond yesterday. Certainly not a place to retire with the steep hills and steps but the market and family grocers are very appealing.

Visiting Cleethorpes

The last visit I made to Cleethorpes was in October 2010 on an unseasonably warm Autumn day. Today was very different though the skies made up for the cold wind.

Welney Frosty Scenes

Completing Saturday's frost series, here are some images from the Lazy Otter on the way to Welney and a series showing the Washes in the grip of winter. The hoar frost was one of the thickest I have seen. The penultimate image shows all the Bewick swans congregated on the open water of the Bedford river. I liked the fish-eye shot from the Welney main hide

Saturday's Hoar Frost

Some images from the hoar frost in Toft on Sturday morning. It was very patchy as Hardwick, only a miles or so from Toft did not have the frost laden trees and in Comberton, a mile the other way the sun was out while we were still in the mist. This gave a variety of skies and light.

Welney Swan Roost

It was minus 12 degrees on my car thermometer at Welney when we arrived yesterday morning and I don't think the temperature rose much even when the fog cleared a bit and the sun came out. Everywhere except for the water right in front of the hide is frozen so not many swans came into roost in the evening. However, the quality and colour of the light made up for the comparative lack of flying. These are in chronological order showing the colour change in the light from a cold blue to the pinks after the sun had set. These are Whooper Swans except for the final Mute Swan. More of the frost and birds to follow!

Final Birds from Elveden

A final set of birds from the Elveden holiday for the records: Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Great Tit, Greater Spotted Woodpecker and Jay. the Jays came right to the patio able so these are full-frame images - just to make Phil jealous as they are normally very wary birds.

Aggressive Siskins

The siskins are very small birds but they certainly have big ideas and will see off much larger chaffinches and anything else that comes to the feeders. Perhaps this accounts for their rise in numbers in recent years .