With sunrise photography on my mind, setting the alarm Saturday night to 5.40am for the Sunday morning seemed like a good plan before going to sleep. Being woken up by that alarm 5-6 hours later didn't feel so exciting! That was how my Sunday morning started.
Pulling the covers back to go and wipe the condensation off the window to check the cloud cover, I shortly returned to bed drawn like a magnet to the warmth and desire for more sleep! But as I lie there I started to envision the possibilities of the sunrise and ten minutes later ignored the tired body and crawled out of bed and into the car to start the day.
Getting to the river 15-20 minutes before sunrise there wasn't much colour, and clouds started to blow in from the north west, I was hoping they wouldn't obscure the horizon.
It wasn't long before the sun broke the horizon, muted in its brightness by haze and no doubt some level air pollution.
It was such a calm morning. The quietness only broken by the noise of cars from the motorway in the distance, and the Canada Geese squabbling on the water.
Seeing the reflections in the stillness of the river I waded out a little, so that I could crouch down to get the camera as close as possible to the water for the shots below - realising I crouched a little too low at one point when I felt the cold river introducing itself to my rear end!
Here is one of my favourites of the morning. The Canada Geese preening themselves in the early morning sunlight, with rising mist on the right from the slight warmth that the sun was bringing.
It was time to move on to a different part of the river, where once I again I waded out into the water, just deep enough to avoid filling by boots! It was a great time just to stand, watching and listening to the nature around me. A Heron was on the opposite bank of the river, shortly followed by another flying around. A small group of Pochards were lazily hanging around together. Then a couple of Canada Geese flew down the river past me, calling out loudly to another that had flown by earlier. I managed to get a shot as they flew past, capturing the sense of motion.
A very pleasant start to Sunday morning. Signs of spring are definitely in the air with Reed Buntings marking territory and some great views of them on the tops of the tall reeds - a reminder to come prepared on future visits for photographing the birdlife!