This is my entry for the #monomad challenge.
Yes dear reader, after no activity in the Black and White community for over a year, this is my 2nd post in the space of 2 weeks
Similar to my last post, it features another trip out to a local Nature Reserve. This time it is the turn of Frampton Marsh, which is a reserve managed by the RSPB down near Boston
It is a coastal, wetland habitat, so features a lot of water (even more so considering the recent heavy rainfall). Thankfully, all that recent rain has stopped for now, and the weather has turned very cold with ahem 'highs' off 2 degrees Celsius. This is down to a prevailing North-Easterly wind along with zero cloud cover. This makes for bright sunny days, but feels very cold.
Here are some frosty leaves as proof of previously mentioned cold conditions
I'd always prefer 'very cold' compared to 'very wet'. Being wet all day is quite depressing, but as long as you are prepared (and dressed correctly with many layers etc) then its actually quite nice to go for a walk in the sunshine
Teasel seed heads
Reeds seen on the edge of the water
Fluffy seed heads
After a couple of hours walking in the cold, we decided it would be a good idea to shelter in one of the many bird hides on the reserve... it would also be a good place to pause and look out to see what birds we could see.
@dawnsart with her camera at the ready
Considering how cold it was, the water still looked mostly ice free apart from small parts near the edges. I do remember a trip we took down here about 8 years ago, which was even colder with 'highs' of -4C, on that day there was only little patches of clear water right in the center, the rest had frozen over completely!
Today seemed quite warm in comparison haha!
We did see a reasonable selection of birds such as the Canada Geese seen above
Male and Female Pochard (a type of medium sized duck)
And a Lesser Yellowlegs. This was quite a rare sighting which was petty cool, this little wader is usually found over in North/South America
It had been a couple of yeas since we'd visited here, and it turned out to be a lovely day in the end. Tomorrow we will be heading out to another Nature Reserve, up at Far Ings. Its another wetland habitat, but the different location means there will be some different species to see hopefully.
I like the leaves as the contrast with black and white works really well
Thanks sweetheart, I thought it'd be a useful reminder of how cold it was haha!
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Some beautiful shots there again, Dan.
I also prefer more extreme weather to "very wet" :D
I read that as -40 and not -4. -40 would be extremely cold! -4 is very cold indeed!
I'd totally bump up the contrast on these. But I've been called extreme 😆 I'm not really sure why though? I think I'm pretty consistent compared to all those not extreme people running around out there! 😉
Very nice Duck pics, Just Another Dan. Happy to see them any day. 👍
Thank you Nicky ❤️
Oh crikey, -4C is bad enough, I couldn't cope with -40C haha!
Yeah, its very easy to over edit images and I always prefer to err on the side of caution. That said I do prefer a high contrast edit, might look at these again with fresh eyes in a few days to see if I can rework them...
Pfft, well I have no idea either... you sound like a perfectly sensible and reasonable individual to me!
:)
Well that I am, Just Another Dan. That I am!
But I'm an artist by nature as well.
So balance in all things. Including balance :D
Tho' I must add that I'm enjoying the middle ground, these days. And I'm old enough to have enough experience to make art without gettin' all hit up about it anymore.
p.s. I always overdo the contrast in my black and white photos, so ignore me. I am, after all, an ex Goth! 😂
This entry is really nice
You took fantastic pictures and I love the actions being portrayed in the pictures
Nice one!
Thank you, pleased you enjoyed looking through them :-)
The weather is actually looking so cold out there. It seems the weather condition this year took another shape and turn
Yep, hopefully this Arctic blast is only here for a week or so, should start warming up next week fingers crossed!
that's a wonderful entry :) i wish you good luck with the contest :)
I really like to see pictures in black and white contrast