Coombes Valley

Today we ventured to Coombes Valley Nature Reserve.  After the snow and continued cold weather, it was a good chance to see how difficult the roads were.  We set out at 2 degrees Celsius and within an hour it was 0 degrees.  The temperature was dropping away in the morning air

With so few birds braving the weather away from the feeders, we walked to the top of Buzzard Bank.  This is a viewing point which overlooks the valley and, if buzzards are flying, they can easily be seen from there. The RSPB have even provided a buzzard viewing seat for your comfort.

 I took a set of snapshots to paste up into a panoramic view.  This needed a fixed platform and a rotating camera.  A monopod works well to keep the camera stable for such shots.

The resulting paste-up, using Photoshop, gives an idea of the view from the seat at the top of the bank.  Click on the photo to see the larger image.

Even though there has been no snow or rain for a while, there is ice and snow everywhere around.  The ground is very cold and nothing is melting at present.
The main roads are clear of snow for the most part, there being drifts that still occupy the edges of some sections of the roads.  It is the small lanes and tracks that still have one lane only up the middle.  Hopefully, as the temperature rises over the next few days, most of this snow will clear.