April 29th, 2008

Retirement is going well. I am still trying to figure out a routine for doing things. But that is what is great about being retired is you can do them whenever really. And another lovely thing is Brian and I can go off bird watching when we like too.
When our blue bells in the garden started blooming I knew the woods at Hanningfield Reservoir would be full of them too. So Brian and I decided to go for a bird watching visit. It has been severaly years since we were last there and since a new fast road has been built beside the other road we used to take. We still went via the old road. Less traffic on it. And they had closed down the old centre and opened up a whole new visitor centre and added alot more foot paths around the reservoir and a few more hides too. They have really done a lovely job on it.

Here are a few photos from our day out that you all might enjoy seeing....


This little fellow is called a dab chick or a little grebe. Their call sounds like a laugh. They dive and swim under water for a very long way which can sometimes make it difficult to spot them, so listen for the laugh.


This little fellow was sitting at the outdoors classroom singing us a very pretty song.

I think I may have loaded Brian down with too much gear....

This pair were having a lovely rest beside the path.

There were some lovely trees in blossom along the paths.

This little Robin was a very friendly little one. Brian calls me the Robin Lady as I probably have one of the biggest digital photo collections of robins. They are just soooooo sweet and sing so beautifully.

He was telling us to hurry up so he could pose for my camera.




Only a few other times have I been this close to a robin. They are really quite friendly little birds.

I called for Brian to stop walking so I could get this photo.....


The minute I tried to get behind him he took off.... A lovely peacock butterfly. Now for the blue bells.....





This is a tufty duck who was at the fishing lodge which used to be where the old centre was.

I couldn't get over this bridge being collapsed. Many times Brian and I crossed over it.

And No!!! That is not why it collapsed!!!!




We came across this wood ant nest!!! There were zillons of them in a huge mound!!!

And finally some stitchwort that was growing along the path.

We had a lovely day out and plan to go back again real soon for another bird watching and picnic.