How sitting ducks became a moving target!

Sunlight helped to brighten the normally shadowy river.

YOU'D think sitting ducks would be an easy target. And so they are – unless you just can’t get your camera out quick enough! Yesterday four male mallards had congregated lazily on the river I walk alongside. A ‘pretty picture,’ I thought, and a change from snaps of plant life. I had my camera in a rucksack, but I’m afraid it was a case of more haste, less speed. By the time I’d fumbled with the fastenings, faffed with the zips, and tangled with the camera strap, the ducks had gently disappeared from view.

In my defence, they were ‘floating’ rather than ‘sitting!’ and so were actually moving . . .Well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

I did manage to get a couple of shots of the (duckless) river though. Normally the water’s rather dark and grey because of overhanging trees and bushes, but on this occasion sunlight was hitting the surface, creating a bright patch in shadows. I actually tip-toed out on some stones in the river to get the pictures. I must admit, it induced a sense of vertigo. The water rushing past your feet makes it feel as if you’re moving, which meant balancing on a rock around a foot square was a weeny bit difficult.

If the picture at the top of the page looks as if it was taken from the middle of the river, that’s because it was!

Missed the ducks - so snapped
the nearby bridge instead!

Incidentally, getting back to the bank again was another ‘challenge’ – but a hop, skip (sort of) and quick jump across the swirling water did the trick! Safety note: please don’t try this unless you take your life in your own hands! I don’t want to be responsible for someone floating off because they read in a walking blog that it’s fun to balance on a little stone island in a fast-flowing river!

This morning I avoided the river and my usual field because it was raining. I don’t mind walking in wet fields, but the tracks were quite muddy yesterday after a previous downpour. They’d have been even more like a quagmire today, and I didn’t fancy following up wobbly river stones with slippery mud-tracks!

So I stuck to one of my urban routes, and pounded the pavements instead.

And guess what? No ducks!

A single thread of spider's web looks as if it's holding up the leaves.

Sunlight illuminating nettles and creating interesting shadows,

The beauty of leaves picked out by the sun.

Low bridge? Will the snail shell follow the snail under the twig?