white on blue

I make no apologies for concentrating on the swans in this post. It was a lovely, bright and unseasonably mild afternoon and I returned to the lakes hoping to chance upon the pair of swans from my previous post. I wasn't disappointed although they didn't hang around for long. What struck me when I came to download the photos was just how varied the pictures were in terms of colour, mood and the reflections given the short space of time they were taken in.

they decided they'd had enough of a nosey (and noisy) hound at this point and serenely drifted off..

quickly picking up speed and demonstrating just how much they use their wings to power through the water.

a little annoyed with Milo and too close for comfort

flight and shadows

Beautifully bright afternoon with sub zero temperatures. Decided to make the most of the light opportunity and went looking for birds that usually remain elusive and just out of reach at the centre of the lakes at Earlswood. I wasn't disappointed as they had all collected at the edge of the far side of the lakes where there were small patches of water amongst the ice.

Unfortunately it appeared as if the rest of the population had decided it was a nice afternoon for a stroll too (hugely irritating).  

the backlight on this one gives rich detail to the wings in flight

it wasn't long before a pair of swans joined the melee

a great show of ruffled feathers after hissing at Milo who delighted in attempting (and thankfully failing) to get onto the ice to get a closer look 

she eventually stalked off, bored it seemed, after taking a dislike to Milo, her feet making a wonderful scratching sound on the ice

again I took this into the light to get the most from the shadows on the ice