Duck watch

OK, so Coots aren't ducks, but I'm not going to do separate posts on every species of bird that lives on the pond! Although everyone seems to love the Grebes, so maybe I'll try and get them with waterproof camera.

The coots have two nests on the buoys in the pond at the moment, which nobody seems to remember happening before, we're guessing it's probably because the winter ropes were in place for so long. They don't seem to mind a bit of gentle breast stroke, but there was a bit of squawking when I started taking photos, so I'll leave them to it now.

I've been taking pictures from a few different positions all through the seasons, which will hopefully result in some kind of successful project at the end of the year. So here's a couple for you now. Comparing January to now is making me come over all nostalgic for a fresher swim! I like being able to swim for longer now, but I'm not getting the same rush that I need to wake up in the morning.

Olympic training at the pond this week.

Gavin's just waiting for Tom Daley to get injured.

Mmm.....bikes

I love riding my bike, but it's not the most interesting to look at, so I've been taking pictures of other peoples bikes and hankering after a nice old racer. So there may be some more bike pics coming as their numbers increase over the summer months......and possibly a new bike for me at some point.

Another dive clip

This is ten frames, but I think I might try twenty next time, if there's any volunteers out there?

Summer arrives!

A beautiful day yesterday after weeks of grey skies and rain, which wonderfully coincided with the unexpected removal of the winter ropes. Or at least it was unexpected for me, I'd got so used to them being there, that it took me a while to realise that something was different about the pond as I stood on the jetty. My first thought was "at last!", quickly followed by "oh, now I'll have to swim all the way round". The temperature was perfect though and I decided to stay in a bit longer after my lap. I don't know if the sun and ropes being out had a pyschological effect, but it really didn't feel that cold to me. The water had that lovely silky feeling and I didn't want to get out, nothing unusual about that though.

I'm looking forward to lots more sunny evening swims now. See you down there?

Is that the heron?

There's been a lot of talk about herons recently, as you can see there was one on the far side of the pond when I took these. Now it's taken up residence in the bushes by the jetty, fruitful hunting ground so I've been told.

High Water Everywhere

So, lots of rain recently eh? Not that we've been moaning about it, oh no! The top four pics are from Monday when there was a rare full day of sunshine, and the bottom two are from the waterproof camera, taken two or three weeks apart showing how much the water level has risen.