Little and large.

Today’s plan was to park at Thwaites Mills and walk along the canal, but the bridge to the carpark was blocked off, so we decided to drive to Fairburn Ings instead.
Our first visit this year.
Although sunny it was much colder today. 7C.
We however kept warm with hats, gloves and scarves, as well as our winter walking coats.

We didn’t go to the main centre, but drove to the village and had a walk down to the river.
Our first surprise was to see an enormous barge coming up the river from Goole towards Leeds. The transport of the past, and maybe of the future? ( see extra)

Unfortunately we didn’t see the kingfisher at the usual spot, but did spend a good 20mins watching some fish jumping, and also what we thought was a pike.

After coffee and mince pies back at the car, we drove to the other end of the reserve and walked down Lin Dyke, hoping to see some redwings. We saw one, but no more. Too many dog walkers about today.
All the hides were of course closed, but as we looked over the fence, we did spot this heron and egret among the seagulls on the lake.
A short walk round to another two lakes, and then back home as the sun started going down. Not great for driving at this time of year, but the M62 wasn’t very busy.

So glad we made the most of the sunshine as it doesn’t sound too good for the next couple of days.