Hither and thither... Audley End House and Rye Meads

I do love being up in Essex and today I was undecided where to go.. so I headed off to Audley - there was a 'Christmas' event and many 'enactors' were about a various points.

Bellows being used to stimulate the fire..

The kitchen garden which now seems to be 'resting'... roll on Spring :)

The water level has been lowered considerably and not many birds abouts..

And then I dropped in to Rye Meads.  Saw a male pintail which was great; about six snipe and many many lapwings, teals etc.

This Kingfisher had been around for about 1/2 hour before I go into the hide.  She had dived and caught a fish and repeatedly banged it against the branch.  The dropped it accidentally into the water twice but, in the 2nd occasion it didn't reappear

Just a record shot!!

Lovely to have sunshine today.

and tomorrow... well we've decided where we're going so... watch this space :D

A wander around the block...

The weather has been awful recently and again, today, dark, dull grey and wet.  But I had to get out and stretch my legs.  So off I went around the village and the church and church yard.

Let's hope the weather improves.......

Autumnal Sheffield Park

After the constant rain at the weekend, I awoke to frost and sunshine so headed off for a walk around Sheffield Park for some Autumn colour.  I visit every autumn but this year a bit later than usual, and the colour was going over but still enough for interesting scenes though.

Good to have some much needed fresh air and exercise in lovely surroundings though.