May Day Morris Dancing

This morning the alarm was set for before dawn, to ensure we arrived at Wandlebury, just outside Cambridge, in time to see the dawn Morris Dancing by the Devil's Dyke Morris Men on this May Day morning. The day when tradition has it to roll in the dewy grass, although today the dew was of the white crunch variety.

(This is the holding page to ensure a 1st May date on the blog post and whilst the rest of the edit is completed in between a full weekend of assignments. Do come back later for the full set of images)

Seems Like Cheating...

This weekend, I have made the journey north to visit our eldest offspring in Manchester. Sharing the same passion for wildlife photography, we took ourselves off to Lyme Park near Cheadle on Saturday afternoon, in the hope of spotting a few parkland deer. For those of you who have followed my blog for a while, you will know that this is a slight departure from my usual method of deer observing.

The sunshine of the morning had given way to the chill of a wintry afternoon, with ice skimming the edge of the lake and the dog water bowls outside the tea bar. We decided to pass on the offer to view the famous shirt worn by Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice, which had been filmed at Lyme Park a number of years ago. Instead, we chose to make our way along the tracks out into the park towards the deer reserve. At first we couldn't see any of the resident red deer but very quickly we spotted one, two, four, a dozen... I had seen similar numbers with my 'own' fallow deer herd but the difference being, these deer were comfortable in the presence of humans, unlike the fallows.

The light levels were getting quite low and although the deer were naturalised, they still kept a careful distance between themselves and the path, so photography was going to be a case of wait and see. However, there were a number of stags with full-blown sets of antlers who decided to grace us by strolling by, two of them stopping for a few moments to have a set-to with much clashing of antlers. It was lovely to see and we both stood and watched, grabbing a few shots here and there, when eventually the deer emerged from the grassy cover. By now, we were getting rather chilled though, and as we made our way back past the old hunting lodge known as The Cage, the draw of the National Trust tea shop became rather strong. The inevitable cuppa had to be the way of rounding off a brief but very enjoyable visit to this country park.

However, magnificent as these naturalised parkland deer are, I still can't help but think, that there is something just a bit more rewarding for me in those few valuable shots of the really wild deer I have caught in the post dawn hours on my local patch. I do feel that I was rather 'cheating near Cheadle!'

Surprises and Wishes

On Tuesday I was basking in the comparatively balmy temperatures of 13+ degrees whilst out on my daily walk.
It was beautiful!
Finally, after a miserable Winter, Spring was with us at last...

...or was it? This morning we woke to a covering of snow and had to face almost blizzard-like conditions out on the walk. Although a change of weather had been forecast, it had still surprised us.

During this time of changeable weather, it is more important than ever to continue with feeding the garden birds, and as a result it becomes a source of pleasure to sit and watch the birds from our kitchen window. Our avian neighbours arrive with eager anticipation for the daily helping of meal worms which I put out on the wall. Next, they are all carefully gobbled up, unbelievably systematically, from left to right, dunnocks, wood pigeons and blackbirds all arriving for a share.

However, some seem to secure a larger share than others, and it has been noted that the female blackbirds, of which there appear to be two regulars, come in for their essential nutrition in preparation for the impending breeding season. So in need are they, that they do anything to chase off all other food contenders in their quest, over-sized wood pigeons included. They are feisty to the degree that even the male blackbirds have learnt to give them a wide berth, just as this one I caught today, always keeping half an eye to ensure they don't get surprised by the future mother of their brood.

Motherhood (existing or impending) is clearly powerful both in the natural world and in our own lives, and so with that, I would like to send my wishes to my mother and thank my own off-spring for their wishes too on this Mothering Sunday.

To mothers everywhere, all good wishes.

...and Don't Pick Your Nose!

Sunday afternoon stroll.

A pied wagtail also went about his business

As the snow fell steadily late afternoon, the most was made of the extended reflected light
on Saffron Walden Common.

Watch out!

So embarrassing!

Mutt has put a de-paw-sit down on a new pad.

All just too much.

Frosty Cliché

I was trying to resist the temptation to post the cliché frost picture today, but hey!

It was so lovely to see mutt having fun out in the crisp fresh sunlight that I couldn't help but post this picture. For me, the colour palette is just perfect (thanks to the addition of a fellow walker's best friend!)

Tragumna Christmas Day Swim 2012

Christmas Day in West Cork brings out the brave, the mad and the bold, to take part in the annual swims on various beaches across the region. This years stunningly sunny weather brought the partakers and spectators to the little strand at Tragumna in their droves, and all in aid of charity. It was overheard to be the best turn-out in years.

2008

This particular bold, mad, brave soul is seemingly a regular, having produced a memorable performance a few years ago when his 'golden balls' failed to stay in their allocated position. Upon returning from the chilly dip, they were far from being invisible (as might normally be expected) instead they were rather low-slung and droopy! (Not to mention some additional droopy items)

However, hats off to him and everyone else who braved the chilly water, this year (and every year) to provide a wonderful diversion from the turkey-cooking.

I will now let the pictures tell the story for themselves.

@yohto13 says that this image needs a caption...
suggestions in the comments box at the bottom please!