Seasonal Splash: Flatford and Felixstowe, Snow and Sunshine

This post comprises a miscellany of photographs from our weekend. The welcoming sign below greets you as you enter the RSPB Wildlife Garden at Flatford.

As you can see, there was still some snow around on Saturday. There was also quite a lot of frozen water. The Moorhen below was lifting her large yellow feet very gingerly.

I really enjoyed taking the shot below, and watching the play of light on the water, parts of which were frozen over and parts of which were not. I love the reflections and the small trail of bird prints.

The copse below was looking particularly beautiful ...

I wonder whether these tree roots above are always submerged.

The Mallards were skating around a bit at the water's edge!  

The landscape above reminded me so much of my rural Norfolk childhood. This part of Suffolk is definitely more undulating, but I recall those snowy plough lines with much affection. There were several pheasants about.

Cut ... to Felixstowe, and the container port, where we hoped to see some birds in the vicinity of the Bird Observatory at Landguard Fort. It was bitterly cold on Sunday afternoon, and there were few birds to be seen.

We found a short boardwalk, which led us towards this Cormorant. It was too breezy to hold the camera still, but it seems to me that the bird has an unusually white head. The link here (you will need to click and then possibly scroll down a little) is not about Cormorants in Suffolk, but it explains about some of the white markings that can be seen on the heads of these birds.

There were one or two Herring Gulls around on the shingle, among the Pigeons.

And finally (for now), this was a photo I took at Flatford on Saturday of the Barn Owl as it coursed the field in the fading light.

We have occasionally heard owls back home, but to date, this one below is the only one we have actually seen! Its eye sockets contain small solar panels, which shed tiny beams of light on our garden after dark.