Poole Harbour
0 degrees C, and no wind. The harbour like a mirror.
On the skyline, the Twin Sails lifting bridge, making a V sign to the world. It has been stuck in the lifted position for the past three months. Such a pretty bridge. Sometimes it even works. The design was chosen in a competition and is a triumph of Form over Function. Long elegant wings on a lifting bridge cause all sorts of technical problems: who could have guessed?
Seen on the water and the mudflats: swans and ducks, waders, egrets, cormorants. All of them slightly too far away for a 70-200mm zoom lens. But hey, have some slightly fuzzy pictures anyway:
Black-tailed Godwits (Limosa limosa).
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta).
Fly past.
Wigeon (Anas penelope). (Forgive enormous image: Flickr still refusing to display cropped images in focus).
Up periscope!
Waterside oak.
Track back to Upton Country Park.
***
Stopped off at the country park on the way back, to visit the upstairs gallery above the tea room, where there's currently an exhibition by Wessex Textile Artists. Some of the works - especially Gillian Lamey's embroideries of Cranborne Chase - were absolutely stunning (also, well out of my price range, sadly).