Ice Traveller...
07th January 2019
The ice arrived and that was it - despite the cold it had to be done - a trip to sit in the freezing cold with definitely no creature comforts.
So meeting up with a couple of the regulars - who all due to additional layers of clothing looked like middle aged spread and a bit more had already set in !!
The air was crisp and cold, the ground frozen solid. The lake was a solid sheet of ice the reed beds draped in a heavy frost with the heads of the reeds not even moving in the light breeze due to the layers of ice covering them. The trees, their leafless branches pure white glistening in the low winter sun a truly frozen landscape.
Very little stirred and settling down the wait began...
The sun shone but offered no warmth and did nothing to stop the ice cold from finding any gap in clothing, camera body and lens so cold to the touch - that's when it becomes a matter of mind over cold !!
In the still and cold air a Bittern moving through the reeds will give it's location up - the sharp crack of a stick or reeds cracking as it makes it's journey through the reed bed in search of open water the tell tale signs, the tops of the reeds moving - neither are a massive "signal fire" sign, but they are there to see if you pay attention -just a mere movement of the reed heads as the bird moves about.
For a brief few seconds the Bittern makes it way across the frozen lake towards the central reed bed.
Then back to the car and the short trip up the road to Stockton Heath.
So meeting up with a couple of the regulars - who all due to additional layers of clothing looked like middle aged spread and a bit more had already set in !!
The air was crisp and cold, the ground frozen solid. The lake was a solid sheet of ice the reed beds draped in a heavy frost with the heads of the reeds not even moving in the light breeze due to the layers of ice covering them. The trees, their leafless branches pure white glistening in the low winter sun a truly frozen landscape.
Very little stirred and settling down the wait began...
The sun shone but offered no warmth and did nothing to stop the ice cold from finding any gap in clothing, camera body and lens so cold to the touch - that's when it becomes a matter of mind over cold !!
In the still and cold air a Bittern moving through the reeds will give it's location up - the sharp crack of a stick or reeds cracking as it makes it's journey through the reed bed in search of open water the tell tale signs, the tops of the reeds moving - neither are a massive "signal fire" sign, but they are there to see if you pay attention -just a mere movement of the reed heads as the bird moves about.
For a brief few seconds the Bittern makes it way across the frozen lake towards the central reed bed.
Then back to the car and the short trip up the road to Stockton Heath.
Comments
By Richard Smith: I have visited Moore Nature Reserve on a number of occasions, I am yet to see my Bitterns, but I know what to look out for now - great photos and do like your gallery images.