Sunrise at the Floodplain Forest

Pink, Orange light spread out over the still frozen Floodplain Forest Nature Reserve; Golden tendrils from the sunrise, spreading out across the flooded waters, highlighting the browns of winter. Behind me the sky was on fire over the farm buildings.

I’d made an early start on my patch walk today, released from the duty of looking after our puppy for a few hours (he’ll feature a lot in the future on these pages I’m sure – in fact as I try to write this I am struggling to do so with him lying on my lap, a laptop and a lap dog – he’s a Labrador and in no way a lap dog – don’t mix too well).

As I wandered through the reserve, the number of teal has noticeably risen, and their piping call echoed about the now bare mud. It was joined in the soundscape of winter on the nature reserve by occasional loud crashes as sheets of ice crashed down into the spaces left by the receding flood waters.

The cold made the day one for sitting inside hides, rather than wandering the rubber paths, the light not allowing for much unstabilised photography as well. And with that in mind I spent much of my time photographing the local ducks and Egrets as they visited the Viaduct hide.