A day at the lake

I suggested to Woodpeckers that we visit Frampton Court lake this afternoon which she was very happy to do. The sun was beginning to shine and warm up the day, though it did cloud over briefly at times.

We took a flask and a blanket and once there went straight to a small promontory and stayed there for several hours. It is a quiet place except for the loud noises made by the many birds on the lake and in the woodland areas. Helena read whilst I stood with my camera snapping away consistently. I was particularly pleased to see an Arctic tern again, as it is such a delight to watch when feeding. It swoops and dives and climbs and swoops down low over the water again as it hunts for food.

There were many geese, swans, a couple of oystercatchers, a thrush as well as the usual smaller birds such as sparrows and blackbirds. As we walked beside the lake when we arrived I saw a distant bird which I didn't recognise, and wondered whether it was a cuckoo, but it flew away before I could get my camera. Soon after we heard a cuckoo calling from the far side of the large lake, followed by a second cuckoo from a different direction, so maybe we had seen one.

I have blipped this Arctic tern in a rather heavily cropped form to submit to the Abstract Thursday challenge, which I've never entered before. It shows its head underneath its body just after it had dipped its beak into the water to attempt to catch some form of food. I liked the reflections of the ripples and the strange shape it has contorted into, which makes it into a rather abstract image.

I have added some of the other pictures of the day into this Flickr gallery. I rather like some of them.