Thursday, December 29, 2016

Misty, frosty morning walk

Just a few photos from our misty, frosty morning walk around the lake at Trentham this morning.

It was minus two degrees as we parked and the mist descended as we rounded the lake until you couldn't see the other side.  Below are just a few photos of things that caught my eye as we meandered along the paths.

The wonderful wild flower beds from the summer

 now looking beautiful covered in frost.

 By the very busy lakeside cafe the blue tits fed on the feeders mostly noticed by the crowd.

The mist was beginning to descend

 The opposite side of the lake was fast disappearing to sight

 We spotted the pair of black swans on the island in the middle of the lake.

 They swam over close to where we were walking and one of them ventured out of the water.

 There were lots of swans, geese, coots and mallards on the water

 We also saw one female Mandarin duck hiding at the edges of the water.  Not in the photo above though; they are a row of this year's cygnets rapidly turning into swans.

Old tree branches had turned silvery with frost.

 There were primroses too!  So early I don't think they will survive the frost.

 Everywhere was looking so wintry

 and very seasonal too.

Brr...time to return to the warmth of home.

30 comments:

  1. Stunning photo's, so atmospheric. I can definately feel the chill factor xx Have a great New Year!

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    1. Thank you, glad you enjoyed the photos. Happy New Year to you too:)

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  2. Beautiful frosty and wintry photos - so atmospheric :) It looks a lovely walk although very cold! By coincidence recently my son was on about visiting Trentham Gardens - it has been on "my places to visit" for some time :)

    I said I would let you know if I heard of any Waxwings near you. Just seen a report of some on Twitter from Staffs Bird News. There were 33 this afternoon at Talke Pits in a tree near PW Metal Finishers Ltd. Obviously I am not sure how close to you this is but if not far and if there are plenty of berries left the waxwings do tend to hang around for a few days while food supply lasts. If you google "Twitter Staffs Bird News" and find a link to their twitter feed they may have updates of sightings.Good Luck and Happy New Year :)

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    1. Thanks for the info re Waxwings at Talke Pits. The place is North of the city just off the A34 to Congleton near the Freeport Retail Outlet. I looked at Twitter and it seems the waxwings were there between 2 and 3 yesterday afternoon. I'll keeep checking the messages. We've woken up to dense fog herein the south of the city this morning still can't see the end of the street so won't be going out this morning and I have to be elsewhere this afternoon (luckily within walking distance) so I may have missed out on seeing them. I'm not on twitter but will keep checking to see if they are still around over the weekend. If you do come to Trentham and would like to meet for coffee let me know. Happy New Year to you and yours:)

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    2. Thanks Rosie and yes I would love to meet you for coffee if we come to Trentham (would probably be Spring/Summer). Worth keeping an eye on the twitter feed as there may be other flocks around in other areas of the City and check any berry trees you see :)

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  3. ps I think the road name is Pit Lane?

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  4. Such a beautiful post Rosie. I love the way frost makes everything look so special. Bet you were glad to get back into the warm after that excursion :) B x

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    1. Thanks, Barbara glad you enjoyed the photos, it was a lovely walk but it was good to get back home again:)

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  5. Brrrrr indeed, Rosie, but so beautiful. Thanks for sharing the lovely photos. We are having fog today as well. xx

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    1. We can't seem to shake off the fogs at the moment, makes driving hazardous. Take care:)

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  6. How lovely, would you believe I have yet to walk around this lake? Maybe 2017 we may meet up in the actual world and take a walk together?

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    1. That would be lovely, Valarie, Spring and early summer are beautiful there maybe we can walk together then? Happy New Year:)

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  7. It was a lovely morning for a walk wasn't it! A beautiful collection of photos.

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    1. It was a splendid morning everything was so photogenic:)

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  8. Brrrr, it does look cold. I'd love to see a black swan.

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    1. There is one pair of black swans amongst all the white ones - they do stand out and we always look for them:)

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  9. It's a very different place in winter isn't it? Still beautiful though.

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    1. Yes, it's amazing how the landscape changes with each season. It does become a winter wonderland in this kind of weather:)

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  10. Brrr! I bet you were pleased to get in after your beautiful walk. Doesn't the yellow boat look good against the black and white.

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    1. I love the yellow in its monochrome setting:)

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  11. Beautiful! I love the washed out colours at this time of the year.

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  12. I've enjoyed the walk, Rosie. You notice so many interesting things and share beautiful photos of nature so thank you. Happy New Year! May it be a good one with many opportunities to get to places near where you live or further away.

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    1. Thank you Linda, Happy New Year to you too:)

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  13. Great wildlife photos Rosie and what a joyful sight in winter - primroses! How I miss those winter beauties. Hope you had a good new year and all the best for 2017. Marie x

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    1. Thank you Marie, hope you had a wonderful time too. Best wishes for 2017:)

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