While Matt took Sadie to see the new Star Wars film we took Meredith to Welney to see the swans.  It was even more flooded than our most recent visit; we offered Bug twenty pence for every species she recorded.  In between colouring in drawings she saw 27.  We visited the Pond Room, where she dissected an owl pellet and found skulls and bones and live maggots.  All in all a magical day for the three of us.  

Wicken in Winter

David and Jan were visiting from Guernsey, and Ann was in Edinburgh, so I met them at Wicken and took them round the reserve.  We saw a male Hen Harrier, and David was delighted to see GS Woodpeckers and Fieldfares and Redwings, which are rare on the Islands.  The Buzzard pursued by Crows had a very full crop, and we saw several Marsh Harriers.

After the Gold Rush

". . . the Loading had begun; flying Mother Nature's silver seed to a new home in the sun."

Black Friday

There were numerous demonstrations in Cambridge - consume less, reuse, recycle, while people were snapping up 'bargains'.  Our bus was late getting in through the traffic, and very late leaving in the early afternoon, but we were at least carbon saints.  All pix with 21mm lens.

Epping - Death and Decay

Trees either cut down or blown over and left for the insects and fungi to compost.

Epping - the Roots

The roots fascinated me.  All shot on a tripod with either the 16-55 mm or the 12 mm.

Epping Forest

An RPS day at the forest.  I used a fisheye lens for the top two pictures.

Lackford Larks

This industrious Dabchick caught four or five fish inside an hour as we watched from Bernard's Hide.  Most of the fish were Perch.  A female Sparrowhawk raided the feeder area and caught a Blue Tit, but was spooked by a rabbit and flew off.  

King's Lynn

Some images taken during our stay in the town.  Top is the Museum, then some pix in the shopping area and the chip shop where we had a fish supper.  The cross and the water levels are from St Margaret's church; strange that the level was higher in Jan. 1978 than in 1953 when the floods killed thousands.  Captain George Vancouver was born in Lynn and gave his name to the Canadian town.  

Frampton Marshes

We went to Frampton hoping to catch a glimpse of a Merlin and two were seen, but not by us.  The weather was relentlessly dull and overcast.  All the water birds and ducks and geese went up and when they came down, a Peregrine was sitting on a fence post.