A ramble round Rodden Reserve

I managed to sneak out to my local reserve for an hour the other morning when the sun was trying to make its presence known. Here are some photos taken on the way through the reserve. It was cold and the main lake had frozen over displacing any ducks for the time being.

 This chilly early morning shot lent itself to a bit of black and white treatment I thought.

In the same way that the following two shots did too. Some drooping grass seed heads.....

.....and some ice crystals forming around the edge of the lake.

That's enough of the black and white. The Pussy Willow hasn't shown much change since I was here a few weeks ago, still being at that lovely just emerging stage. You can see some ice crystals still there before the early morning sun had got to them.

 The paths were still pretty frosty in the shade as I walked round.

 A pair of Canada Geese took exception to my presence. You can just about see it's frosty breath as it honked out its annoyance at my approach. Maybe I should have given them the black and white treatment too! (-:

They both moved off onto the main lake, slipping and sliding on the icy surface. One of them still protesting so I moved off quickly after taking this shot.

 Here's a couple of shots of the River Frome which flows along the western edge of the reserve.

 Spring is on its way though, as I walked round the reserve I could hear a male Reed Bunting singing his simple ditty, staking out his territory. Here's a photo of a male I took at the beginning of the year to show his winter plumage. I found the singing male, now in his smart breeding plumage and took a couple of photos before leaving him in peace.

I'll hope to get out again to Rodden reserve soon.