In the arms of Winter.

A quick walk this afternoon produced very little in the way of wildlife. With the nights drawing in i managed to squeeze in a gentle walk around sunset (3pm-4-30pm). For me today, it was a chance to get away from the stresses and strains of life, there is something about the clear skies and low temperature of a winter day.

 

The ground is still very trecherous underfoot, many of the paths are ankle deep in mud but as the temperature drops the ground should harden as the ice takes hold. No sign of the Deer today but i did get a sighting of one of the Kingfishers at Point 6. My eye was drawn to movement on the edge of the bank as my footsteps approached, the flash of it's blue rump relflected the low light from the setting sun.

 

The usual familer fields felt quite lonely and remote today, never have they felt as remote as they did today. There was just the one dog walker and the drone from the traffic was still present, maybe it was the image of the once thriving hedgerows and foliage now rotting and disappearing.

 

A few Redwings were active in bunches of three's or four's, still no sign of any Fieldfares or the elusive Waxwings. One thing about that i have learned over the last 5 years, from my many ventures out to watch wildlife is that it really doesn't matter if i see any special wildlife. Of course it is a benefit, but personally i just enjoy being out in nature, i can spend all day over these fields, freezing cold, covered in mud and only see the odd Blackbird and Tit flock and still come home with a smile on my face and feeling much better about life in general.

Winters here

Lately i have been extremely busy setting up a Graphic Design company with 2 other designers, based in Wigan. With a recent trip down to London to discuss the future and direction of the company and to meet with a client, plus the branding and pricing of our company i have had very little time in which to visit Belvedere.

Today however, i made time to forget the business for an hour or two, and to refresh with a walk over the fields. The weather was perfect, a typical crisp winter afternoon, washed out blue sky, long shadows cast by the seting sun and just a hint of mist.

With the sun setting in the west my walk was anti clockwise around the fields so that i wasnt staring into the sun. The Redwings are as perky as ever, moving from berry bush to berry bush, occasionally starting a squabble with the Blackbirds. Still not a sighting of Fieldfare at the moment.

A lot of the smaller birds are now easier to see with the majority of foliage now lying on the floor in  piles of browns and orange. Wrens are very lively at the moment looking for food wherever they can. Another new species of bird was seen today, a Willow Tit was feeding upside down along with a few Great Tits further up the branches.

On my way home, just past the bridge at point 1 no less than 3 Roe Deer began to run away from me. They were not very far from the road and only about 20feet from where i saw them last. This is getting quite regular, i am going to take my video camera with me in future to hopefully film them.

To coincide with the arrival of the Redwings i decided to create a vector illustration of a redwing, it was finally finished a few days ago after many hours of work.