First Steps Into The New Year

 So this is 2023.....

.....and, believe it or believe it not, this was the very first photo of the year - snowdrops in my local wood. Not the finest bunch of flora to ever grace this blog but certainly the earliest. The rest of the wood will not have any snowdrops for some time, but this little clump that grows right beside the chalk stream is always the first to show.

The rest of my village walk didn't look a lot different from the previous year. I was up early as I'd seen in the New Year from the comfort of my bed.

I remember getting up once as a child to see what all the fuss was about, only to find that nothing of interest happened as one year ticked over into the next (there were no midnight fireworks in those days). All I could report was that some of the grown-ups were giggling more than usual, but, being seven-and-a-half (and sober), I couldn't see the joke.

There's still plenty of mistletoe on this tree, no one being foolhardy enough to risk their neck for a stolen kiss.

I found another leafless "tree" on this fallen tree-trunk, that was rotting away beside the little footbridge on Shepreth L-Moor. I've no idea what caused those patterns, but perhaps some kind of insect that burrowed away beneath the bark.

Despite appearances the Moor (as we call it) is not as waterlogged as it can be at this time of year, which is surprising after all the rain we've had.

A few of the smaller birds are already beginning to sing and new life is springing from the bark of that fallen tree

Yet another section of the same tree-trunk. I keep looking at this picture and finding new patterns hidden away. It's like trying to read the runes to find out what the coming year might hold. 

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But I also have a few photos from an end-of-year walk around Paxton Pits.

A swan was finding some shelter from the wind - but is that willow showing the first signs of Spring colour?

Two male Tufted ducks lingered by the water's edge long enough for me to grab a picture. They are very common ducks in the UK in the winter months, when their numbers are increased as over 100,000 of them fly in from Europe to enjoy our comparatively mild weather.

They don't mind the wind!

Take care.