With the forecast on my weather apps Saturday night indicating a clear sunny start to the Sunday morning, the 5.00am alarm was set for another trip to watch the sunrise. There was a stillness in the air as I left the house, perfect conditions for ice covering the car windscreen! But more importantly the potential for reflections on the river.
With my primary focus now being landscape photography, bird photography seems an infrequent activity so I headed onwards along the river with the objective of capturing some bird life photos in the golden hour morning light and was not to be disappointed.
I met these two geese on the river bank as I approached this particular spot, both which promptly waddled off into the water, providing a great opportunity to capture an atmospheric shot using the bridge to block the sun from causing lens flare.
I decided this was the point to 'camp out' for the next hour or so, as the sun continued to rise over the bridge:
The rest of the time was spent watching the river's birds go about their early morning activities. A Kingfisher flew past at one point, which was great to see. The Great Crested Grebes were doing a bit of courting, with one eventually passing in front of me, beautifully lit by the sun:
At one moment the Canada Geese got into squabble resulting in a lot of noise and action:
It seemed like all the commotion was over a particular female! The suitor eventually swimming off following his mate.
Soon it was time to move on. Returning to the car and passing the small 'dragonfly pond' reminded me how it won't be too long before the damselflies and dragonflies are out and about, as summer draws nearer. Looking forward to the time ahead.