nymphs in the woods

...rotten night's sleep exacerbated by the incessant sound of rain. Consequently, it was no great surprise to see some local flooding in Swanage this morning (nothing serious).

The weather improved, slowly, throughout the day and by six o'clock there were small patches of blue beginning to develop in the sky. On the edge of Poole Harbour, opposite Poole and Brownsea Island, lies the peninsular and small village of Arne. The RSPB has a wonderful reserve here that contains mixed woodland, heath, marshes, saltings, estuaries and a wildlife managed farm. East Dorset has a large population of Sika deer and Arne is a place where you can guarantee seeing them - often in their hundreds. I have lots of excellent images taken during the winter months but none from this time of year when they are in summer colour, have fawns, and the males still have velvet on their antlers. There were plenty of deer about this evening but a) they were too far away for my lens to do justice to; and, b) they were mostly lying down and obscured by the grasses. I got some images but nothing truly blipable.

There are several peaty ponds in the woods, one of which always puts on a good show of Nymphaea sp. Although these are wild they are not our true native species alba so are probably a hybrid between that and a garden cultivar...