Swan Lake

There is a little pond in a little park near our local supermarket. It has a resident swan couple, and Zebedee is very interested in them.



These are the only photos I took today. Unfortunately I only had my pocket camera with me, but I kind of like these shots.

Frozen

Photos from our morning walk in Piddinghoe. First I spotted a little egret on the river.






Zebedee spotted a stick.



Once we got to the sailing lake, we saw that it was frozen! Couple of locals I met said they had never seen it freeze before.






Some dogs Z met today.






Couldn't resist another cute little robin...

Kingfisher!

No, not the beer. The bird.

I saw a kingfisher for the first time in England! I didn't even realise that they are resident here, so on Sunday, when I saw one on the river in Piddinghoe late in the afternoon when it was already quite dark, I thought surely I was mistaken? But no, when I followed it to look more carefully, I was indeed convinced that it was a kingfisher. And cursed that I didn't have my long lens with me, especially because I would have been able to get lovely shots of the grey heron to boot! Crumbs.

This morning we went to Piddinghoe again, with the long lens.



And after some frolicking along the river, ...



...I saw it again - the kingfisher! I couldn't get close enough to take a proper photo, but here is the evidence anyway.



Huh?
Well, that's how far I was from it. The above is the full frame taken with 400mm (x camera censor crop factor 1.6). Here is a very small crop from it, just to prove that it IS a kingfisher.



...and a few more shockingly poor snaps for further evidence.









Zebedee met the two working cockers along the river.



By the car next to Piddinghoe Church, a rather irate-looking sparrow.



And a cute, little robin.



In the afternoon we went back to Piddinghoe and walked to the little lake and saw grasses basking in the golden afternoon sun.





And saw guess who?



Slightly closer this time: on the opposite riverbank, so about 100 m away. Hope I can catch him/her on my side of the river next time!

Christmas in Wales

We spent Christmas week in a cottage in Wales. I think it was the best Christmas for a looong time. Here are some photos - didn't take many, actually. It was too cold.

Little birdies

A spot of birdwatching in the afternoon before taking Zebedee to Marvin's.

Shopping

Morning walk in Stanmer Park. Still no sign of other birds than magpies! Where are all the song birds?



I shopped for the first time in about six or ten months today. First I kind of got into it, but after about an hour and a half the novelty started to wear off. With the help of a pint of cider I managed to get through the last hour or so, and was happy at the end that I got almost all the things that I set out to buy. And got a glimpse of the sunset, as well.

Bodiam Castle

I woke up very early this morning and couldn't go back to sleep, so I decided to drive to Bodiam and take more photos of the castle and surroundings.

[em]

The day started with a walk amongst autumn leaves in Stanmer Park.












In the evening we went up in town to see and hear [em], which is a fantastic, young jazz trio of Michael Wollny (piano), Eva Kruse (bass) and Eric Schaeffer (drums), all from Berlin. I may have said this once or twice before during this year, but this was the best gig I've been to this year!! This trio's recordings are fantastic, but they are even more fantastic live, which is not always the case with bands. All three are brilliant musicians - virtuosos - and they play together so tightly you can here them go >PING!< even when they are not making a sound. What a fantastic gig, what a fantastic evening.