Suffolk Sunshine (and Moonlight)

After a week of post-flood building work at home, we were keen to enjoy the January sunshine on Saturday, so we took a picnic to the coast ...

We woke yesterday to temperatures of -5 degrees centigrade, but Saturday was not quite so cold. The light was good and the path by the sea on Dunwich Heath was ablaze with gorse. 



There were very few people on the beach.

 

You can just see the town of Southwold in the distance.



The shadows lengthened and the light didn't last for long. The picture below shows the beach at the edge of the RSPB Minsmere reserve (I rather enjoyed the reserve's Epiphany blog post here).

I am always in my element when there are waves to watch...

I had read on the Cabinet of Curiosities blog that there are Earthstars about at the moment, and since we had once seen some here, we had a good look around ... but failed to find any this time.

There is a lot of coastal erosion in this part of the world. The photo below shows one very small bit of it.

More waves...

We kept a sharp eye out for deer, and indeed saw their hoof prints in the the sand, but they remained elusive. Gold (gorse), bronze (bracken) and silver (birch bark) were the predominant colours on the landward side. The photo below shows one of two toadstools I came across. I wonder how long it will be before a hungry rodent discovers them.

There are a few evergreen conifers on the heath ...

... but the brightest green belonged to this clump of moss.

It was good to get out and sniff the sea. I hope there may be more signs of spring next time; but, of course, (despite the spring Snowdrop and Crocus flowers in my previous post) we are still officially in the heart of the UK winter. 

I mentioned the chilly night time temperatures. Well, I woke early this morning on account of the cold, and couldn't resist a peep at the eclipsed 'super blood wolf moon'. My little camera just about delivered a record shot, as you see below. David took a couple of pictures on the small Canon, which I hope may be a bit better. Meanwhile, there are some wonderful photographs here of this remarkable natural phenomenon.