My turn to drive and again we wanted to walk on hard standing footpaths so we decided it was a trip around Straws Bridge and Manor Floods. We set off at 07:30 and got there before 08:00 and 2nd in the car park. It was still dark and not a lot to see although we did spot a big fat rat running along the shoreline next to the birds that were still roosting.
We just had a slow walk from the car park and went in a clockwise direction then off towards Manor Floods and past the water settling tanks next to Shipley Common. they had a small screen all around the water tanks and we think its to stop small amphibians like a toad barrier. We went around the tanks and found a spot for our breakfast next to a small bridge with a wildlife screen, our Rob pulled out a nice cake to share around. After breakfast we carried on past a farm and back to Manor Floods then the car. We just watched all the birds on the lake for a while and wondered why a group of juvenile black headed gulls were chasing a tufted duck. I got several shots of this and the duck didn't even have anything in its beak to eat.
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| Rob in a festive hat |
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| Incoming geese |
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| The Nutbrook |
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| Ike & Rob |
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| Geoff |
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| Rob, Geoff & Ike |
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| Geoff having a cuppa and a cake |
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| Ike, Geoff and me |
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| Me |
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| Geoff |
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| Geoff |
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| Tufted Duck chased by a Black Headed Gull |
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| Tufted Duck chased by a Black Headed Gull |
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| Tufted Duck chased by a Black Headed Gull |
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| Tufted Duck chased by a Black Headed Gull |
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| Tufted Duck chased by a Black Headed Gull |
This was a lovely little walk through some varied terrain, some nice hard footpaths and some muddy ones, we met quite a few people and had a natter, mostly dog owners and the odd jogger. Sorry about the overload of Tufted Duck pics but it did get away in the end.
Wish you all a merry Christmas and see you next week.
Cheers
Jim
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