Wintery Sunset

After a dull day the sky started to clear with some beautiful colours as the sun set.

Merry Christmas

 Nasty wet muddy weather today so glad to get ready for Christmas by the fire.
Merry Christmas to all our followers!

2000 year old tree cut down

The 2000 year old lime tree at Westonbirt Arboretum has only survived to this age by coppicing. Every 20 years or so it is cut down to ground level to encourage new growth which looks like a thicket of trees but is in fact one tree.Hopefully this will continue for many more cycles.

Winter Solstice

Now we have reached the Winter Solstice the daylight hours will start to increase.Today was the shortest day and the sun was low in the sky but we did at least have sunshine as the rays shone through the trees.

Urban Views

We are not very good at Christmas shopping so yesterday found us climbing Cabot's Tower in Bristol to admire the view across the city to the distant Cotswold Hills.

Long Tailed Tits

 Long tailed tits tend to stay in family groups through the winter months and gather together on our bird feeders.
We counted ten of these delightful little birds this morning.

Birds stand on the ice

Yesterday we visited Slimbridge WWT and enjoyed the quiet and frosty conditions. Here you see the Shelducks standing on the ice. The highlight of our day was seeing the elusive Bittern skulking around the reed island. Later it flew from one reed bed to another.

Valley Fog

 Fog in the vale struggled to clear all day yesterday,but it started to break up just before sunset giving some ghostly views.

Frost and fog

Wintry scenes as freezing fog has coated the vegetation in ice giving lovely monochromatic views when the fog clears. Not good for driving but beautiful to see.

Winter Trees

Winter allows you to appreciate the simple shape of trees without the clutter of leaves as shown in this view from Cam Long Down,

Sunny Views

Lovely sunshine today and the view over Downham Hill towards Stinchcombe Hill looks particularly good. Bare trees ,golden bracken and green fields givea tidy look to the countryside in winter.