Winter Birds at Paxton Pits

After a conservation morning laying hawthorn and blackthorn trees to make low scrub for summer avian visitors, I took my camera for a walk to see what was around. As expected, Cormorants, lots of ducks  including Shoveller, Gadwall and Widgeon, Egyptian Geese and flocks of Fieldfares. All distant shots so not a lot of quality but beautiful colours in the water and plumage

Toft Christmas Tree Festival

Always a favourite with the village, this weekend St Andrews was resplendent with Christmas trees decorated by various local organisations and individuals. 

Bradgate: Red Deer Crossing

The Red Deer often make the river crossing from the wooded area of Bradgate up onto the grazing hillsides in the evening. When I was there on Monday, I saw a large herd approaching out of the trees and start to cross the river just as my phone rang with a call I had to answer - so I missed much of the action. However, one of the stags stayed on the woodland side watching the last hinds scamper up onto the hillside before he crossed. He got as far as the Mute Swan who attacked anything that came near, took fright and reversed  a bit before bravely rushing past him to join the rest.

 

Sunrise at Trowell Nottingham

The sunrise on Monday near Nottingham with the covering of snow was riot of pinks, oranges and yellows.

Dusk and Dawn at Trowell, Nottinghamshire

I was staying at the Travelodge on the M1 at Trowell and went straight out on foot on arrival back there on Sunday afternoon from the trip to Blacktoft Sands - it was almost dark but managed one photo with the colour still in the sky and a blueish tinge to the snow. The next morning I headed out again before sunrise and took the same scene but now the colours were reversed with some pinkish light on the snow and a blueish sky. The next photos are in time sequence as we got nearer to sunrise. The next set will show the landscape once the sun had risen.

Blacktoft Sands Landscapes

A few images of the landscape etc of Blacktoft Sands which lies on the south bank of the River Ouse, where the waterway widens to become the Humber Estuary. Reedbed covers much of the site and this is England's largest intertidal reedbed. There are six shallow saline lagoons with hides, an area of grazing marsh and a small area of mudflat. Scrub between the hides attracts a great variety of warblers and a thriving colony of tree sparrows.