Hanging Langford (Tuesday 5th June 2018)

Yesterday the Spotlight Kid and I met up in Hanging Langford for a day of previously determined activities. First on the agenda was a visit to Langford Lakes, a nature reserve run by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. Neither of us had been before and were suitably impressed by the diverse habitat attracting different plants, birds and animals across a series of well-managed lakes.

The lakes are served by the River Wylye which one crosses on Duck Street to reach the reserve. I saw a little egret on the river as I drove across but it had gone when I returned with a camera, however a bee orchid in the car park was unable to evade my lens. We toured all the lakes and hides and saw a good number of birds including a little ring plover, corn buntings and types of warblers, as well as geese, swans, a cormorant and many swifts.

We crossed the road for a picnic lunch beside the Wylye and then crossed a bridge to a footpath which followed the river into the village of Hanging Langford. It was all very relaxing and tranquil apart from one regrettable incident when an untethered dog ran up to us barking aggressively and repeatedly, which stressed me out for quite a while.

An attempt to visit Parsonage Down failed as there turned out to be no access from the roadside, but that was a mild diversion along the way to our final destination, which was Stonehenge.

I hadn't been since the new information centre had opened and the Spotlight Kid had only been many years earlier. We both had free entry as we were National Trust or English Heritage members and were soon conveyed to the entrance on a coach noisily overcrowded with a school outing of French kids and found the stones surprisingly crowded for a late weekday afternoon on a dull day, but enjoyed the walk around the stones and the walk back along the Stonehenge Cursus, a processional path through an ancient meadow, shared with some cattle, and revived over a coffee in the café.

As my return route took me past Caen Hill I naturally paused to check on the swans, and also got a good view of the heron on a pontoon. The swans and both cygnets were on the grass behind a side pond and seemed fine. Another dog ran up and bothered the cob swan which hissed angrily back so I scowled at the woman walking the dog when she tried to greet me.

L.
6.6.2018 (1830 hr)

Blip #2671 (#2421 + 250 archived blips taken 27.8.60-18.3.10)
Consecutive Blip #019
Blips/Extras In 2018 #114/265 + #46/100 Extras)
Day #2996 (580 gaps from 26.3.10)
LOTD #1815 (#1656 + 159 in archived blips)

Landscape series
River series

A Day In The Salisbury Area, 5 June 2018 (Flickr album of 26 photos)
Caen Hill Locks, 5 June 2018 (Flickr album of 20 photos)

Taken with Pentax K-1 and Pentax HD P-D FA 28-105mm f/3.5-5.6ED DC WR lens


Lozarhythm Of The Day:
Taj Mahal - Statesboro Blues (recorded August 1967, Columbia Studios, Hollywood CA)
Taj Mahal (vocal, harmonica, slide guitar) with Jesse Ed Davis (lead guitar), Ry Cooder (rhythm guitar), James Thomas (bass), Sanford Konikoff (drums)
(cover of Blind Willie McTell's 1928 original)

One year ago:
Recent Acquisitions