Spring in the churchyard, winter in the wood

Another overcast, slightly mizzly day, but with no real rain. February has been extremely dry in eastern England, and ponds that showed signs if filling up in January are now receding again. We now have our first clump of frogspawn, though I've not yet spotted any frogs in the ponds.

I sneaked out to Thorpe Wood late in the afternoon - apart from the Hazel it's still looking very wintry, with no sign of Wood Anemones at all, and no flowers on the Primroses. I played around with in-camera double exposures, then layering them in Photoshop to try and capture the complex branch structure of the oaks, and the grey feel of the day (see extra).

I lengthened my walk to take in Longthorpe Churchyard, where planted and naturalised spring flowers including Green Snowdrop and Balkan Anemone seemed more seasonal and cheerful.