Lately I have been taking a few walks in the countryside around my home town of #Arlesey in rural Bedfordshire. We are lucky to have some nice walks close by with woods, rivers, pastures and other habitats. I have been taking my camera along in hope of capturing some of the local wildlife. I am still learning how best to do this. Some of these critters are too quick for me.
This one was not going anywhere. I spotted the webs and thought they would make a good photo, but then I spotted the spider lurking within with various bugs already packaged up. This was taken on my Saturday walk.
Today I went out again. Just up the road from us there are some new houses being built. This is part of a development that will use up some land that is currently wild. That is a real shame, but it still leaves extensive areas wild around us.
I walked up to the north end of the village to to along the stream there. As I crossed the bridge a white egret flew off before I could get a picture. These birds always seem quite nervous.
There is a set of allotments up there that look to be very productive. Someone was having a lot more luck with their corn than we ever do.
That stream was looking a bit low and full of weed. Not much sign of birds apart from the egret.
I walked over to the station to pick up the River Hiz as it flows through the nature reserves. I did not see too much there apart from lots of butterflies. At one point a cock pheasant ran off in front of me into the undergrowth, but again I failed to snap it.
I wandered up to the Mill Pits, which is the site of one of three mills that used to be along the river. There are just a few stones to show this one was there and even less of the others. This is a popular swimming spot. There are generally fish to be seen in the river. This is where I spotted a kingfisher a few years back and I keep returning in hope of seeing one again.
As I crossed the railway bridge I spotted a bird on the telephone wires in the distance. I had to go to full zoom for this, but it was just a pigeon.
So not the most exciting walk, but I am gradually learning about what can be found in different places and will try to be ready to take pictures before the wildlife disappears. I can also observe the changes as we go through the year.
Stay well.