Heron not exactly fishing, Worcester: Friday, 27th January, 2017.

We've seen herons up trees in heronries but never seen one passing the time of day up a tree before.

(it's 1 o'clock in the willow tree).

Not gonna catch much from up there.

Death of a willow tree? Worcester, Monday, 23rd January, 2017.

Our favourite willow tree has been decimated (photo taken last week).

Today we chatted to the 'tree doctors' (still grinding up all the branches etc days later) who assured us that the trunk is rotten but that it should all grow back again in time.

Let's hope so, as its branches created an ideal 'hide' for folk like us out kingfisher spotting.

Quite warm today.

Puts us in the mood for a selfie with two swans on the river.

Unfortunately, we have not managed to get the swans in the shot.

Classic.

Nice hazy sunshine today.

Kayakers in the mist.

Seconds later the sun went in and the temperature dropped by three degrees in an instant.

It was only 6 degrees in the first place.

Time to get walking a bit faster.

In along the canal and out along the river: Worcester, Sunday, 15th January, 2017.

The Birmingham and Worcester Canal at Perdiswell and the start of an alternative walk into town.

Practising balancing exercises in case all this walking isn't enough.

Plenty of mallards make a living along the canal.

As usual, we don't have anything for them.

Passing a pair of hopeful swans.

Trapped seasonal detritus.

Crossing a bridge to stay on the towpath into town.

View from the bottom of the bridge.

As I was taking this photo Vicky cried 'Kingfisher!' but by the time I had finished it had flown into some shrubs behind a willow tree (just out of shot to the right).

So we walked a few paces along and stood still for a minute and, sure enough, it suddenly re-appeared and flew back up the canal to where it had come from.

That counts as two sightings in our book.

So our score now stands at 22 in 11 years.

Definitely in a more urban environment now.

A gang of moorhens.

The old canal basin.

We leave the canal at The Commandery and head into town for a well deserved tea with toasted tea cakes at Coffee No 1. That should just about keep us going for the homeward leg.

Just a mile to go and the rain that has been threatening has now arrived.

No kingfishers in kingfisher territory today.

Almost back home. Just a half-mile or so to go.

Fit Bit stats today:

David: 15,222 steps. 7.18 miles. 6 stairs.

Vicky: 17k steps. 7 miles. 

Heron, Worcester, Friday, 13th January, 2017.

Spot the heron and win a prize.

Misty river, Worcester: Sunday, 8th January, 2017.

12:45-ish:

The river is misty down river……..

….and misty up river as well.

No kingfishers today. Too many folk about at the weekend and, in any case, 

the river is silty after a day's rainfall.

Might see one tomorrow. Finger's crossed.

Feeding time for the swans.

Quite a scrum forming.

The river is misty along this bit an' all.

We can't remember seeing it like this in the middle of the day before and, given the number of folk taking photos of it on various gadgets, it seems we're not the only ones.

The Cathedral's Christmas Tree Festival finished yesterday so this is the only one remaining.

Lighting candles for the dearly departed.

The 'Threads Through Revelations' exhibit.

No caption required.

Off into town now for tea and cakes, £7, and then the purchase of a vegetable 

serving spoon for the grand price of £4.

That should keep our economy going for a bit.

3:15-ish:

On our way home now and the mist is even thicker above the river as we 

make our way past the rowing club.

Two kayakers bravely paddle into the mist.

Will they ever be seen alive again?

It's like a Stephen King novel.

6:00pm-sh:

Whilst some folk have been lying on the bed enjoying a brief respite, others have been hard at work making and baking a Multi-seed loaf (not tested it yet), and some sticky, fruity biscuits 

(which have been tested - very more-ish).

N.B. Some Fit Bit stats:
David - 14, 243 steps; 6.73 miles; & 8 flights of stairs.
Vicky - 17k steps; 6.9 miles, & 128 active minutes.

Cold and bright: Worcester, Thursday, 5th January, 2016.

The Cathedral always looks at its best backlit 'cos you can't see the scaffolding.

Not quite a dozen cormorants drying out.

Heron giving the river a hard stare.

The Pump House in silhouette.

Seconds later a Kingfisjer flew along the brook in roughly the same place 

as the last time we saw one a couple of days ago.

That's 20 sightings in 11 years now.

Now we know where they 'hang out' we're getting much better at spotting them 

and we've double our total score over the past 2-3 months.

Sunset: Worcester, Monday, 2nd January, 2017.

3:40-ish: looking down river from near The Pumphouse.

We've spotted another kingfisher today.

Always happy about that.

That's 19 in 11 years now.

View across the racecourse as we make our way home.

Fog & frost: Worcester, Thursday, 29th December, 2016.

11am-ish: Gheluvelt Park.

Croft Road.

This is for anyone who may have wondered what Worcester 

would look like without its Cathedral.

Frosty fronds along the river.

Only the committed need apply.

There could be several kingfishers in this shot but we'll never know.

Carbis Bay departure: Tuesday 27th December, 2016.

Inspired by what we witnessed yesterday in St Ives, we're up bright and early so we can race straight down to the beach for our pre-breakfast 'dip' in the ocean.

As we pass the entrance to the railway station a thrush is singing it's heart out.

Wow! That dip in the ocean was fantastic.

Just the thing to set us up for the drive home.

Shame we don't have any photos of us actually in the water. Oh well.

Good job there weren't any folk about to witness our achievement.

One last fuss with a passing dog on a beach.

Oyster Catcher on a mission.

Over an hour after we first passed it, the thrush is still singing its heart out.

Certainly got a lot to say.

Check out is at 11am and we depart bang on time.

The journey home normally takes 4.5 hrs but today it takes……gulp…..7.5hrs!

It takes over two hours to travel along the A30 to get to Launceston (normally, less than an hour).

Then the M5 is just as sticky. Stop-start all the way up to Bristol and it only clears a bit after the M4 junction where all the southerners turn off.

We put all this down to holiday traffic and road works but when we get home we learn that the M5 in Somerset had been closed in the morning due to ice and fog.

Hmmm, that'll be why then.

Still, rotten journey or not, nothing can spoil the memory of the best Christmas we have had for years.