Duckling And Diving

Nottingham woke up wrapped up in a deep blanket of fog this morning. So I made a small detour through Highfields, to see how the park looked in the mist.

Everywhere was shrouded in grey. Trees, the lake, the Lakeside Theatre.  I took lots of photos, but I was looking for something a little different.

Whilst I was taking some photos of the misty lake, one of the large birds started honking. Then I knew why. Looking down I saw a little chick running about. Obviously a protective parent looking after their baby.

Then the baby bird made their way through the railings and waddled towards me. Then they decided to stop and have a drink from a puddle near me. Just in the right spot for a photo. I then noticed that the chicks' other parent was watching their baby from the top of the railings. One proud parent looking out for the baby.

Eighteen Geese A Swimming

Whilst I was walking into town, I saw a few people leaning over the bridge looking at something.  Of course that stirred my interest. Has someone fallen in the water? Is there a yacht waiting to use the lock gates? Or was there some filming going on?

Sadly in a way it was none of those, but something just as interesting to see; a pair of Canada geese with their young were wanting to swim a bit further up the canal, but they were being prevented by the locked gates.

As I had some errands to run, I didn't stay to see how they managed to continue with their journey, or whether they went back the way they came.

In Parrot Fashion

I popped along to the annual Hemlock Happening this afternoon, which took place at Bramcote Park.

There were a lot of stalls and things to do, which were mainly aimed at children. But there was a few bands on, and I bumped into loads of people that I know.  But the important thing was that it stayed sunny and warm.

One of the stalls was being run by Parrotaid, a charity to raise money for to help unwanted and abandoned parrots. The people that look after the birds had bought some along to show the visitors.

These two seemed to be enjoying the sunshine and attention that they were receiving from the visitors to the show.

High Tea

Walking around the city centre last night, I came across this rather amusing scene, which was part of a
big front window display for a clothing store.

It does make good use of some old and odd cups and saucers, including the well known Willow Pattern design.

In Formation

Following on from yesterdays head shot of a Canadian goose, here's a picture that I took of some flying off to warmer climbs.

As it has been a lovely afternoon, we decided to have a drive out to some villages to the east of Nottingham; namely Lambley, Hoveringham, Claythorpe and Gunthorpe.

We stopped at Gunthorpe for some food, and parked up at a pub near the river called The Unicorn.  when we had finished eating, we went of a little walk just as the sun was starting to set.

I got some nice shots of the golden shy, and then I saw this flock of birds in the sky. A shame that they weren't flying past the yellow part of sky, rather then the darkening blue. But I think it makes for a calming image.

High Flyers

As it was my teams' Christmas dinner tonight, I took the bus into town, instead of cycling in, as I usually do.

While I was walking up by the castle, I heard the squark of a lot of birds. Looking up, I saw a big trail of Canada geese flying overhead.

I thought the birds had flown south ages ago, but they must be just as confused about the weather and the seasons as we are. Maybe now that they have gone, they know that really bad weather is on its way. It was very foggy coming home tonight, and temperatures are expected to drop to minus five tonight. So perhaps the birds know what it is going to be like during the next few days.