Swans and sunlit willows

Real March weather today - sunshine, wind, rain showers and hail! The dogs and I managed to arrive at Ferry Meadows just in time for a shower of rain, which somewhat limited camera use. By the time we reached the farside of the large lake the sun had manged to break through, lighting up the willows against the remaining steel grey clouds.

Around Peterborough the changing colour of the willow twigs is a sure sign of spring. The vibrant brownish-orange trees are crack willows, while the more yellow trees are weeping willows, whose colour comes mostly from the emerging leaves. Elsewhere, different varieties of osier, originally planted to provide raw materials for the manufacture of willow baskets, have twigs in brilliant reds, oranges and yellows.

I found it quite hard to decide on my blip today. I was torn between a more general springtime view and a picture of Gemma, gently snuffling a rock, with a large male swan right behind her. Fortunately she takes absolutely no notice of swans, having lived with their cantankerous behaviour the whole of her life!

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