Waxwing

Waxwing
"To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

From "Auguries of Innocence"

by William Blake

Thursday 21 October 2010

Lake District Holiday - Leighton Moss and Windermere

Day 1 - Sunday, 17th October

The weather was beautifully sunny as we left home (far later than we originally intended!) but as so often happens when travelling to the lake district the weather deteriorated the further north we went and by the time we arrived at Leighton Moss (RSPB reserve) it was drizzling!

After some lunch the weather had improved slightly and we went for a walk around the reserve visiting the Tim Jackson and Griesdale Hides. Although we weren't fortunate enough to see any red deer we could hear a stag bellowing in the distance. The highlight for me was a little egret - my first of the year (I haven't seen one in Warwickshire this year and even failed to see one at Lymington on our way to the Isle of Wight in June). No sign of any bearded tits though and I seem to have missed one in Warwickshire too whilst I have been away! We had a quick look round an exhibition showing wooden bird carvings - some of these were really rather beautiful.

As we drove away from the reserve I was thrilled to see a fallow deer in the woodland and a few miles away we saw a herd of fallow deer browsing in a field near Milnthorpe.

Leighton Moss - sorry no bird photos still no telephoto lens!













Photos of Windermere from Gummers How Viewpoint







In recent years we have stayed at a beautiful place called Broomriggs overlooking Esthwaite Water on a self catering basis but as we were only going to be stopping for 3 nights we returned to a hotel in Far Sawrey (on the west side of Windermere) where we regularly stopped before we had the children. Its now under new management but the food is still excellent although the legendary six course evening meal is now only three courses!

Its a lovely location - very quiet and peaceful with beautiful views and great walks from the door of the hotel.

My son took these photos with the Fuji Finepix digital camera on a walk from the Hotel towards the village of Near Sawrey.






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