Anglesey Abbey with a Dusting of Snow

'Silent, and soft, and slow
   Descends the snow.'

Longfellow 

Anglesey Abbey, near Cambridge, is in the care of the National Trust. We met up with friends last Saturday, and enjoyed a walk through the gardens and grounds, which are renowned for their collection of Snowdrops. I think it was the first time I have ever actually seen those Snowdrops against a background of (admittedly thawing) snow. The stand of Silver Birch trees looks beautiful in every season.

As we walked along the lode by the mill, we caught sight of a flash of electric blue. This could only mean one thing: a Kingfisher, my first of the season, and sure enough we were granted a second look as the bird darted into the trees along the bank. It was too fast for our cameras, so here is 'one I prepared earlier', a Kingfisher photograph from 2016...

There was very little in the way of breeze despite temperatures hovering around 0 degrees centigrade. But there must have been a ripple to make these marbled reflections.

This scene brought back my 1960s childhood ... It is always a joy to see a bank of spring flowers.

And here's a close-up of one of the Snowdrop species.

We are always drawn to this Tibetan Cherry tree with its lustrous sheen. It reminds me of the one at Dryburgh Abbey in Scotland, last resting place of Sir Walter Scott.

More Aconites...

I decided to take an off-centre photo this time in the grove of Himalayan Silver Birch...

Snowdrops under what I think is a Corkscrew Hazel or Corylus avellana contorta... It's other name seems to be Harry Lauder's walking stick.

More Snowdrops...

There is not a lot that is wild about this clump of Dogwood twigs, but the clump blazed like a bonfire in the winter sunlight.

I think this may be my first insect picture on the blog for 2019. I have seen a few flies and queen bumbles about, but it was a joy to catch this bee at work.

Witch Hazel is always one of the first shrubs we see in flower...

More Aconites...

   

...and Snowdrops. 

Sunshine on snow...

 

Urban Birds (and Mammals) in a Local Park

Treecreeper

Inspired by the launch of Nadia Kingsley's new book of art and poetry, DIVERSIFLY, on the theme of urban birds in Britain, we took a short spin around a local park to see what was about before the rain got too heavy.

Having seen the Kingfishers (here and here) on BBC Winterwatch recently, we were thrilled to find not one but two by the lake, presumably a male and a female. Will there be young in due course?

Sadly the birds were at the furthest point from us for much of the time, and since my zoom does not perform well in grey rainy weather, my photo is just a record shot - but it is always a thrill to see these birds, and I have never seen two at the same time before.

Catkins - I think these are birch ones... (whoops, Juliet thins they are hazel. My mistake. Thank you, Juliet!)

Coot

Young adult Black-headed Gull

The ice house from the days when the park was part of an estate

We were fascinated to see the small trunks growing vertically out of the horizontal trunk. This was where we saw our first rat. David also noticed a Grey Squirrel.

It's always lovely to see a Robin.

I had hoped there might have been more Snowdrops, but it was good to see the few that there were.

Good weather for ducks... This is largely, but not entirely, Mallard!

Look who's peeping out!

I don't know if our presence startled the rats, but the larger one, presumably the mother, swam off across the lake. The young one (peeping out of the trunk, two photos up) came down and sniffed around the tree trunk.

We also noticed Wood Pigeons, a Carrion Crow, a Bluetit and a Magpie. Not bad for a short visit in the rain...

Kingfisher Watching - A Walk in the Park

I recall the thrill of seeing my first Bittern from the Bittern Hide (where else?) at RSPB Minsmere. It somehow seemed that bit too good to be true. Then we saw Adders on the Minsmere Adder Trail...

Well, last weekend we paid a quick visit to Holywells Park in Ipswich, and there in the watercourse, by a sign illustrated with a Kingfisher was... a Kingfisher! It was a fairly elusive bird, but as you see, we managed to get a few record shots. I hope we can return with more time. My thanks to David for his photo immediately below. 

There were other creatures about, including the Mandarin duck in the next photo. The stark contrast between light and shade reminded us that we are past the equinox, and already in the season of shorter hours of daylight.

Out in the open at the top of the park there was some real warmth in the sunshine. My eyes alighted on this fluffy mass...

I guess it may be a spider nest, or cocoon, perhaps belonging to a species like the Golden Orb Weaver.

If my hunch is correct (and I have yet to test it out on iSpot), the spiderlings will eventaully disperse by the method known as 'ballooning'. 

It was good to see a fair number of bees about on the colourful plants. 

 

This is the recently renovated Orangery...

These reflections are largely green, but it will not be long before the colours turn to those fiery shades of autumn (or those misty, mellow ones if you prefer the description offered by Keats...). 

Kingfisher Sighting, Norfolk

I have always hoped that I would have the chance to photograph a Kingfisher. My few sightings to date have been fleeting ones, and I had never had the pleasure of seeing one of these stunning birds on a perch before.

We visited Gooderstone Water Gardens in Norfolk over the weekend; and there, just outside the Kingfisher Hide, was ... a Kingfisher.

The Latin name is Alcedo atthis. The first word links up with the more familiar 'halcyon', derived from two Greek words and meaning 'conceived at sea'. According to mythology, halcyon birds bred on nests out in the ocean. The computer colour, cyan, derives from the Greek word, kuaneos, meaning 'dark blue'.

How can turquoise feathers really be a dusky brown? I have always found the phenomenon of iridescence and semi-iridescence a fascinating one! 

The view from the hide at Gooderstone, with two perfect Kingfisher perching sticks

The water gardens at Gooderstone, Norfolk