Reflections of Spring

I woke up at dawn this morning. More accurately I was awoken at dawn by one of my cats using the landing as a race track into the bedroom and back out again, chasing his sister! As it looked like a beautiful morning rather than trying to get back to sleep I grabbed a quick coffee and went for a very early stroll around the aquadrome.
It was a gorgeous morning. The sun was just starting to rise, there was not a breath of wind and the lakes had a light covering of mist. Birds were singing from just about every bush.

On the main lake, the yachts they use for the schools sailing club were all tied up in the centre of the lake, almost glowing with the sun behind them and appearing to float above the still water.

It's really interesting how light changes everything. The same scene taken only minutes later from a different angle give a totally different view as you look into the sun.

The coot was one of many aggressively defending territory lines on the lake which are invisible to us but of vital importance to them!

A few of them though were keeping out of the melee on the main lake and were trying to find a quiet bit of breakfast near the shore though. On the canal itself the moored barges looked resplendent in the  gradually strengthening light.

Of course, there were a few birds around to attract my attention as well.

One I particularly wanted to catch up with was an early sedge warbler reported the day before on Herts birds. Even from a distance I quickly picked up it's scratchy call coming from the reeds on the causeway. It never gave itself up well for a photo but a couple of times it came out of cover enough to be able to make out that eye-stripe.

Finally I made my way over to the farm where the first swallows of Summer had been reported a couple of days earlier. I think there were 4 to 5 birds around, twittering happily and perching on the wires by the stables. Always nice to have them back as they are one of the sounds of Summer.

By the time I left, the dog walkers, joggers and baby strollers were just starting to arrive - having missed the best part of the day! Still home by not far after 8 in time for a nice coffee and toast with two new year ticks under the belt.