5th November 2012, My first Monday off:-))

After some patient and well thought discussions with my boss I now no longer work Mondays, some cover for the holidays of a colleague will be necessary but essentially I now have a three day weekend.

A bonus too at this time of year is the free mid week parking in Bolton Abbey, Christmas holidays and half terms excluded of course, the estate isn't made of money, well it might be but rules that deter young families still apply for some ill thought reason.

I set off from the Cavendish Pavilion car park, walking westwards to try and get the best photographic conditions on a bright and sunny day. The trees were autumnal, golden brown and stunning..

 

 

This small desolate area was largely bare of leaves though, the frost and wind probably accounted for the leaves judging by the crunching beneath my feet!

 

The Harrison Ford shelter, named after a local ford not any mythical adventurer is a good spot to linger, many people put bird food around its edges and shelves, some lovely birds appear such as this nuthatch..

 



 

I tried a few shots, the low light in the shelter does not lend itself to great pix, especially with bright light streaming through the remaining leaves. A cute little coal tit was my only other decent shot...

 





I took a short break just before the aqueduct, here looking back down stream...

Crossing over I now strolled through shadowed woodland, pausing for a shot made famous by a JMS Turner painting..

There was a photographic workshop in place down by the Strid, the rocks were very slippery, their expensive lenses and camera bodies stayed clear of the classic shot of the gushing force!

To be fair my camera stayed short of it too, it gets slippier as you get further out...another day with drier rocks I'll get on the edge:-)

Wildlife sightings had been few so far, as I neared a stretch where I could get off the path I decided to try just that...it works, no surprise there, and I got a reasonable pic of a female goosander..

A small time sat quietly by the river paid dividends, this lovely dipper sang its squeaky yet exquisite song exclusively for me..............

Getting near to the water level allowed my camera to capture the colouring quite well, another splendid day:-)