Straw's Bridge/Swan Lake

I'm not a fan of walking in the rain, so whenever a sunny day offers itself, I'm out there either pottering round the garden or further afield - in this case to Straw's Bridge/Swan Lake Nature Reserve between West Hallam and Ilkeston.

Sadly there are less swans than last year - acouple of dozen previously, but only a handful now - as bird flu struck the area over summer, but it's still a pretty spot for a short walk, and a little bird-watching.

Geese and seagulls have joined the resident birds for winter, bustling about hoping for food from visitors, and cormorants and herons were standing on the 'islands' in the centre of the lake.

The first lake, visible from the car park, is always busiest with both people and birds, but beyond it lie more tranquil spots, though the male swan here was very protective of his family, snapping at walkers passing by.

     

 The path leads on to join the longer Nutbrook trail which runs for ten miles from Long Eaton to Heanor following the route of former canals. It's flat and well-surfaced but I wasn't looking for a marathon hike so just walked along it to a path which leads back to Straw's Bridge and the car

 

A drizzly visit to Swan Lake

It's autumn so the weather's bound to be changeable. 

One day of sunshine, the next of rain. 

We happened to be out and about, passing Swan Lake, near Ilkeston, and, as the car park was almost empty, decided to stop for a short walk, despite the drizzle.

Ducks are reputed to not care about rain on their backs - well, a lot of them were sheltering under trees to keep dry. The swans weren't so easily put off, and followed us round the pond hoping for food. There were so many of them on this visit - I counted 29,  plus the usual array of geese, ducks, coots, and seagulls. It's as if the younger swans never move away but just hang around their 'home pond' where they know food (from softer-hearted visitors than me) is in good supply

 

Sunshine at Swan Lake

We've had a good run of bright sunny days recently so headed off out to make the most of them.

























A bit of a cold over Christmas had left me without energy, so Swan Lake which is only a short walk seemed like a good place to go. There are always lots of geese, ducks and swans to be seen - all very noisily scrambling for food.

There may have been sun, but it was still cold in the shade, and this pond, one of the smaller ones with no birds at the moment, was still frozen after lunch.

 When we last visited on Boxing Day the weather was grey and the paths muddy. This weekend was lovely with blue sky reflected in the water and Spring feeling just around the corner

Out and About at Christmas

Opening presents and eating all the food in sight is good fun but it only takes up a small proportion of Christmas week, and I'm not one for spending all day watching TV, so we've been out and about too.

To Swan Lake, Ilkeston on a damp Boxing Day

To Rushcliffe Country Park

Back to Chatsworth for my third visit of this Christmas

And, on a gloriously sunny day, a walk round Biddulph Grange gardens

Swan Lake in the sunshine

We've had some rather wonderful sunny evenings recently - always a good reason to get out for a short walk.












This particular one took us to Swan Lake again.

There's always something (or someone) new to spot. This time the heron was back, perched in the centre of the pond, and not fraternising with the ducks, geese and swans.