Gibraltar Point

Time to burn off some turkey with a wander around Gibraltar Point. Bright winter sun all day long, a light breeze and a lot milder than we were expecting, given the sub-zero temperatures over night.

Little Egret flying by the flood-damaged visitor centre

Cormorants flying by

Brent Goose

Brent Geese

One Sanderling was poking about by the waves once we reached the shore. I did the necessary, laid down on the mud/sand and waited for it to come past. Luckily it obliged, possibly because of the dog walkers heading our way.

Sanderling

Sanderling

Sanderling

Lying down on the job, but those rocks were painful

Mixed gulls flying by the wind turbines

Goldeneye displaying

Goldeneye displaying

Curlew

Little Egret

We waited at the car park to see if the Owls would come out. We saw one Barn Owl briefly fly past and then disappear again. Talking to another birder later on three had been quartering the other side of the sea wall. A note for next time!

Barn Owl

The sun setting over the marshes

Gill in the field

What made these tracks?

Delamere

A squelch around Delamere Forest, along with most of the canine and equine population of England.

Delamere elevation

Delamere route

Missed most of the sunrise on the way but we just managed to catch some of the golden hour in the forest.

Early morning sun in Delamere Forest

Early morning sun in Delamere Forest

Early morning sun in Delamere Forest

Early morning sun in Delamere Forest

Early morning sun in Delamere Forest

 After that is was low, blinding sun for the rest of the day, along with lots of Gruffalos.

Which is which?!

Low sun over the mere

Backlit Gill

Llangollen

Back to Llangollen again. Not a particularly long route but lots of up and down that adds up. Finished by early afternoon, which is useful as the rush hour traffic on the Runcorn bridge is terrible.

Llangollen route

Llangollen elevation

The low sun was blinding most of the time and our peaked caps didn't really block it very well. There were still patches of frost on the grass under shade.

Frosty grass in the shade

Castell Dinas Bran

Castell Dinas Bran

View from the Castell towards Llangollen and distant hills

Looking through the archway (with a 14mm lens I was practically in the archway)

Bands of Limestone in the Eglwyseg Rocks

Cottage next to the canal on a frosty morning

Sunglasses required

Following in the footsteps of many a climber

Place Fell

An entirely new walk for both of us, going up to Place Fell near Ullswater. An early morning drive over the Kirkstone Pass then parking at Patterdale. Luckily not much traffic on the way over.

Place Fell route

Place Fell elevation

The southern fells were swirling in mist and low cloud with the blinding low winter sun shining down on them.

A meagre sunrise at the start of the walk

Haze and cloud

Looking down the Ullswater valley towards Brotherswater

Helvellyn and the edge of Ullswater, looking west

The sun streaming down on the fells

The sun streaming down on the fells

Another peak

 On the way up we spotted at least 30 Red Deer, grazing on the slopes of Place Fell. A fox ran past the herd as well, although not trying for any of the deer.

Red Deer Herd

The higher path on the way back to Patterdale

Tarn Hows and Black Crag

We drove round to Tarn Hows very early to see if we could get a nice sunrise. Of course not! Very dull and uninspiring but we persevered. After that we went for a walk to Black Crag and back again. We kept bumping into three belted galloway cows on the way round Tarn Hows. Not sure if they were supposed to be there, all their chums were up on the hills on the other side of a fence.

Tarn Hows and Black Crag elevation

Tarn Hows and Black Crag route

No better shots than the last time we were here, but good practice.

Tree in Tarn Hows

View of Tarn Hows looking south west from the centre

Tarn Hows from the eastern hillside

Tarn Hows from the eastern hillside

Trees in Tarn Hows

An (almost) perfectly still Tarn Hows, looking north east

An old fashioned 'selfie' from Black Crag

View from Black Crag, towards Windermere

Lots of low sun once it had risen

More sun than you can shake a large stick at