Arne
I don't go down to the nature reserve at Arne very often. Although it is spectacularly beautiful, since it featured on a series of television programmes, it became quite famous and can attract huge numbers of visitors. But I'm glad C. persuaded me to visit yesterday. It was a perfect day to be walking by the harbour - a lovely icy blue calm on the waters. And because we arrived early, the reserve was still quiet. The crowds were just starting to build up when we left.
It took me about twenty minutes to thaw my car yesterday morning: the doors were frozen shut, and the inside of the windscreen was iced over. And then the drive down to Arne was a little scary - lots of ice on the narrow one-track lane down to the reserve. I arrived at 9am, and found a woman from the RSPB struggling to open the frozen padlock on the car park gate.
Took the track up through the woods:
View point with bench. The benches were all furred with frost. One might still sit on them, but only at the expense of a refrigerated bum.
The heath all frosted silver.
Not a black and white shot. Not quite.
Along the harbourside to the narrow beach at Shipstal, then back through the woods.
Oak trees in marshy ground, growing as much sideways as up.
Thick ice on the dragonfly ponds.
Christmas trail.
Sika stag on the marshes.
The frost just starting to thaw as we came back. My goodness, the paths were slippery - a thin layer of thawed mud over ice. I went flying twice. (If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing well.) The first time, I landed flat on my back, cradling my camera. The second time I went down with spin, and my camera flew out of my hand. Luckily the brambles caught it for me. The lens is scratched, but the camera itself seems okay.
Oh, I'm fine. I had on many layers against the cold, and was well-padded. Though I have been sternly lectured, and instructed to buy a new pair of Muck Boots, since all the tread is worn off my old ones.
The sun thawing the frost on the gorse bushes.