Down by the River

Another bitterly cold day, but I had to go out for a few bits of food. Decided to combine it with my daily exercise so walked the long way round to M&S.
As always, I found myself alongside the river a little way into the walk. It is almost impossible to avoid doing this on a trip into Kendal, unless you actually prefer walking along a road with traffic whizzing by!
And why wouldn’t you walk alongside the river? The path may - relatively - be the same each time, but the river is constantly changing. The level rises and falls and the flow is sometimes fast, sometimes lazy and slow. And on top of all that there is the ever changing variety of wildlife to look at (or for). I haven’t seen the Otters yet and have only ever had a fleeting glimpse of the Kingfisher. The Swans used to be quite elusive, but there were nine of them in a group today - too common to be worth snapping!! So it’s down to the Goosanders to provide today’s interest. The female was just perched on a rock in the middle of the river, preening herself, whilst the male was actively diving for food. Regrettably, I couldn’t get them in the same space at the same time so concentrated on the one who was actually doing something!
And, no, I’m not in any way suggesting that their division of labour in any way reflects that of our own, locked down, household. I was out trekking through the ice and snow looking for food. Mrs C was at home with the heating on. You may draw your own conclusions.....