Ice-fields

My morning was spent raking grass at Swaddywell NR alongside thirty-four other volunteers, an excellent turnout no doubt helped by the perfect winter weather. The grass had been cut before Christmas, but it was too wet for the machine to collect it, so we had to use good old-fashioned person-power to remove the arisings which would otherwise have damaged the orchid-rich grassland! It was a good workout and I swiftly shed my coat and jumper, finding a long-sleeved t-shirt just perfect, even though the temperature never rose above about 3C.
 
It was such a beautiful day that I went out again in the afternoon, this time down to the Rowing Lake where two seals had been seen. No seals, but an icy winter landscape - all the floodwater had frozen forming ice-fields that were great fun to crunch through. Some shallow pools had frozen solid making safe skating areas for children - lovely to see them out enjoying the weather.
 
The wildfowl had kept a couple of areas of the Rowing Lake free from ice, and there were quite a few gulls on the edges, including my first group of Common Gulls of the year. The one in the extra was having a quick drink from one of the areas of open water.