What - No Birds

Yesterday I had to drive over to the vets to renew Bobby's medication. As I had to pass Covenham Reservoir I took Bobby with me so we could have a walk there and see what birds were about. I had both the Lumix and the Canon with me but quite honestly I need hardly have bothered.

The morning had been cold, bright and sunny but things changed the nearer we got to our destination, clouding over and turning quite dull.  Having picked up the hairy monster's medication I made a couple of quick stops to photograph some things which had caught my attention. There was a scarecrow doing a fine job of keeping the crows from a recently sown field.They are a bit of a rarity these days as many farmers prefer to use gas fired 'explosions'. It was a fine example and one of the most elaborate I have seen for years.



Quite a few years ago the owners of one  house had a lovely carving made from a tree stump which I have always admired. It was interesting to get another photo of it now that it has weathered. I should think the sculpture stands 5 to 6 feet tall.



On to the reservoir which is mainly above ground lever. Basically it is consists of an earthwork bank lined with concrete. There is a slip road up to the sailing club but the gates were closed and locked so we had to climb the steps which lead to a style. Bobby will not go through the gaps in a style and tries to jump over which is not good for his failing joints but fortunately there was a gap in the wire fence we could both squeeze through. As soon as we got on the footpath we were covered in flies. I have never seen so many. not just hundreds but probably thousands of mosquitoes.



They seemed to cover everything including the pair of us. We continued on as the swarms looked to be thinner further along the path. Not much to see. Choppy water, the occasional Mallard and a couple of Pied Wagtails. I think we made maybe a quarter of a mile but eventually the swarms of flies followed us everywhere and after taking a few photos of the views I decided to beat a hasty retreat.

The above photos were taken with the Lumix and those in this slide show were taken with the Canon. I know we have been without rain for a while but I was surprised how low the water level was.



On the way back I took a slight detour to get a closer look at the wind farm which can be seen from the reservoir and indeed from the village here. Again - taken with the Lumix.



What did surprise me was the amount of heat haze in spite of the fact that it was not a particularly warm day. Needless to say, soon after we arrived home the clouds cleared and the day ended as sunny as it started.