Bluebells at Gamsey Wood

The bluebells have been at their best, several weeks earlier than typical.  This has followed a very wet winter (and not much drier early spring), that caused widespread flooding.  Many local woods are still waterlogged.  Beds, Cambs and Northants Wildlife Trust, which controls most of these woods, has closed them to visitors to prevent damage.  Gamlingay, Hardwick, Hayley, Waresley, Wistow and Lady's Woods are all closed.  Brampton wood is technically open, but the advice is not to visit.  Luckily, the little known and little visited Gamsey wood is dry, open and, when I visited last weekend, the bluebells were at their best.  

Gamsey is a small wood and has a fair amount of undergrowth.  When I went last year, cleavers and nettles were drowning the bluebells.  This year, the bluebells had a head start on the greenery and were giving a much stronger showing.  

Seascale

A few weeks ago, I had a week's break in the Lake District.  It was mainly a hillwalking holiday, and the hill days were fairly foggy.  So no interesting photos there.  But on our rest days we did spend a couple of high tides at Seascale.  The beach had a small jetty and enough rocks to keep us interested.  The second tide was higher than the first.  Both times the sky was pretty grey, and all interest was in tide, which was fast and choppy.  I played around with exposure duration, but found that 1 or 2 seconds gave the most pleasing result.

Church of St Mary Magdalene, Madingley

A few weeks ago, I joined other CCC members for a morning at Madingley Hall.  We have met up there a few times in the past and on this visit I wanted to concentrate on the little parish church.  I spent quite a time inside, doing wide interiors and detail shots.  It wasn't the sunniest of days, but the occasional shaft of light gave a little more interest.

Snowdrops

A small selection of snowdrop images taken at my favourite snowdrop location.  It was a rather grey, but still, day.  So I concentrated on close-up portraits, rather than wider shots.

Welney Again

Because my previous trip to Welney WWT was during a flooding period, I had a free return ticket, which I opted to use last weekend.  The water had receded enough that some of the outer hides were open.  Sadly, the water was still too high to attract in many swans, most of which stayed out on the fields past sunset.

Flooding in St Neots

Last week, the rains of Storm Henk burst the banks of the River Great Ouse all along its course.  In St Neots, all the usual places were flooded, with the water higher than it has been in many years.