Carding Mill Valley, National Trust

There had been a light dusting of snow overnight while Friday morning was bright and sunny. After a trip to Ludlow to explore the town and meet up with Jane M, we went for an afternoon walk up the National Trust Carding Mill Valley. The light dropped quite quickly but time for a few water and tree shots.

Visit to Shropshire

We are staying a couple of nights with Peter and Jane in Church Stretton - thanks for the excellent hospitality. The first afternoon we walked up the adjacent hills and looked down the valley at their house - a wonderful location. There is a very strenuous golf course up on the hill, a lot of sheep, some isolated trees and a picturesque barn

Fenland Skies

From sun-up to sun-down, the skies at Wicken Fen on Sunday remained dramatic as shown in the following images

Barn Owls at Wicken Fen

We were treated to views of two Barn Owls hunting over the reeds from the Boardwalk Hide, some of them quite close but the light had dropped quite a long way by then. Lovely to capture the combination of reed and owl feather patterns.

Wicken Fen RPS/CCC Outing

 We waited in the right place at the right time but no Hen Harriers showed in the morning, proving that nothing in bird watching is guaranteed. The Konik ponies looked beautiful in the soft morning light. similarly a distant but easily identified pair of Stonechats. The bird feeders were busy with the usual species and a Jay passed through with an acorn as well as a glimpse of Kingfisher (not photographed)

Wicken Fen

We went to Wicken today mainly to find out about parking etc at Burwell Fen for the RPS visit on Sunday. The answer is that it is inadvisable to try and park at Cock-Up Bridge with the building works and the back route to the other side of the Fen has some very bad potholes. The day's tally was three Cranes flying near the Fen, fields full of Fieldfares and several Kestrels. Hen Harriers were active earlier so we will meet at 8.30 am on Sunday and stay on Wicken Fen all day

Daffodils in January

The daffodils obviously aren't aware that  St David's Day is still a couple of months off as they are in full bloom in Toft churchyard! After a wet morning the skies cleared to give some clear late afternoon sun. Lots of puddles for reflections.

Spring A Couple of Months Early

I wanted to test out my new extension ring for the Fuji and was amazed to find the male  hazel catkins and the small red female flowers are already fully out in our wood in Toft. It will be interesting to see how this affects nut production later in the year. The 4th image is a focus stack from 12 handheld images with single shots either side.