Winter Ice To Spring Sunshine - Life On A Lake

It's been a busy year so far ... so little time for blogging! All is not lost, however, because I have been snapping photos all year long so in sharing them with you, they will be the 'stories' for many of the posts in 2010.

My last post back in February was about a small lake close to where I live. It offers the perfect opportunity to monitor nature and the seasons and here are two wonderfully contrasting photos that show just how different it can be .....

Photo 1 - Sunset Over Frozen Lake
There were some wonderful pink and golden skies tinged with hues of blue. The ice and snow on the ground formed the perfect contrast and a wonderful, wintery atmosphere.

Photo 2 - Spring 'Babes'

One of the numerous 'duck families' that emerge each Spring. Young ducklings, guarded by their ever-protective mother, learn what life in a lake is all about. The warmth of the sunshine clearly encourages new life and the lake becomes 'alive' again.

The Changing Seasons

Cumbria is a county in which the change of seasons is readily noticeable. Take the change from autumn to winter for example. Talkin Tarn is a small lake near the town of Brampton and is a favourite spot for locals to go walking. The woods surrounding the tarn as well as the tarn itself provide a wonderful haven for wildlife - from swans, ducks and geese to red squirrels and many other animals.

In autumn, the place is awash with colour. Here is a video clip I took in November ....

In winter, however, it can be quite different. When the first heavy snow arrived just before Christmas 2009, we had no idea that it would stay for 3 weeks along with freezing temperatures both day and night. During that time Talkin Tarn became a different place; the lake froze leaving only one small patch of water in the middle. The sounds around the place changed too - the usual noise of birds swimming and splash landing in the water disappeared and on the days when the sun hid behind heavy snow-laden clouds, it was a distinctly black and white scene. Here is a video clip I took on one such day - quite different from the one in November!

A Winter's Day

This time of year we sometimes get to see snow. Here is a photograph I took last February when we had a particularly heavy snowfall in Britain.

It looks very romantic and makes you feel glad to be indoors. Venturing out was another thing!