River walk

I'm still distinctly sub-prime, but managed a walk along the river in Stratford this afternoon with the big zoom. There were gazillions of people around, and - perhaps not coincidentally - no very interesting creatures, so I found some nice reflections on the river surface and waited for something to swim through them. R liked a couple of shots I have of a cygnet breaking up the water surface here, but I think they're a little too busy, so I've gone with the gull. There's a school of thought that says you should always try to get something red into a landscape shot, to act as a focal point, and while I don't generally subscribe to the notion at all, I do like the fact that the bird's red bill stands out so clearly here against the green and yellow.

On the subject of red: please see the extra. I was amused by the fact that one of the large houses on Mill Lane is currently sporting gate gargoyles in Christmas hats, and I suspect that by this stage in the season many of us are feeling similarly jaded...