Amaryllis abstracts….some flowers are so rich in complexity of form and colour it’s almost possible to get lost in the wanderings of your own imagination… #amaryllis #amaryllisflower #flowerphotography #flower #flowerstagram #flowerabstract #imagination #theearlybirder

‘A perfect commotion of silk and linen…’ Mary Oliver, The Swan #swan #maryoliver #abstract #abstractnature #white #abstractphotography #theearlybirder

At Rickmansworth Aquadrome yesterday morning, I was fortunate enough to spend some time in the company of a small number of mute swans congregated alongside the entrance footpath….

Gorgeous sunset over Weston Turville Reservoir BBOWT reserve, the still conditions turning the water surface into a flawless mirror for the blood orange sky above…#bbowt #westonturvillereservoir #sunset #orangesky #endoftheday #theearlybirder @bbowt

The last few early mornings have been witheringly cold. The result has been a delicious juxtaposition of blue sky, with its promise of warmer and lighter days to come, and a frosty reminder of winter’s harsh potential…

It was a magical sunrise at Otmoor yesterday morning. Its intensity on the first day of meteorological Spring tempered by mists generated by the previous day’s warmth, the suspended water droplets advancing and ebbing across the marshes in the manner of a stirring pulse…

I love the way these wispy cirrus clouds developing above the Chiltern escarpment overlooking Princes Risborough seem to mimic the twiggy jazz hands of the winter hedgerow’s hawthorn silhouette, almost as if it were on fire…#clouds #cloudscapes #skyscapes #meteorology #silhouette #theearlybirder

I’m in Iceland for a few days and after arriving in Reykjavik late last night I thought I’d wander down to the Sun Voyager sculpture overlooking Faxa Bay to see if the Northern Lights would put on a show. Well that they certainly #theearlybirder

The symmetry of sunrise reflected in the waters of the Grand Union canal… #sunrise #reflection #symmetry #treesilhouettes #theearlybirder

Apricity: it’s not just us. A drake mandarin sat on a fallen tree soaking up the first reflected rays of the winter morning sun… #mandarin #mandarinduck #duck #duckportrait #apricity #theearlybirder

When Summer meets Winter…#rose #roseinwinter #winterrose #frost #theearlybirder

Dew-encrusted spider web enveloping a field scabious seed head at the roadside along the lane from Little Orchard… #dew #spidersweb #seedhead #theearlybirder

Butterfly on ice… well, it’s an old zinc water container that has been reimagined as a garden planter actually - but in the sunshine it’s a favoured spot for overwintering peacock butterflies, lured into emerging by deceptively mild temperatures, to bask in the meagre, reflected sun #theearlybirder

The lone oak at Pinner Park Farm a few minutes ago. I had to stop and watch the sunrise on another day. Can’t help it…#loneoak #oak #sunrise #newday #londonsunrise #harrow #pinner #pinnerparkfarm #theearlybirder

Misty winter sunrise over West Wycombe viewed from Bledlow Ridge… #sunrise #misty #westwycombe #highwycombe #chilterns #chilternhills #landscape #theearlybirder

On my way to Wendover yesterday I had to stop off at Holy Trinity churchyard in Bledlow to see the snowdrops Galanthus nivalis that clothe the bank that faces the first rays of the morning sun #snowdrop #snowdrops #spring #theearlybirder

Sunset through the willows that stand tall alongside the Cuttle Brook that at this time of year overflows its banks and floods the rutted fields alongside it….stand still and breath deeply and such places will soak into your soul. Wetlands are wonderful….

A mute swan illuminates the extending nighttime shadow as the setting sun turns the still waters of Wilstone Reservoir to liquid gold… #swan #swans #swansofinstagram #muteswan #tringreservoirs #theearlybirder

Sunrise filtered through the poplar rookery alongside the footpath to Henton. The remnants of last year’s nests have started to plump up as the pairs that have already been foraging together in the meadow behind Little Orchard, have started to rebuild them with wind-blown twigs… #theearlybirder

The winter sun sets over the Ouse Washes overlooked by the main observatory at Welney WWT as the ducks and swans gather to roost and feed…#welney #ousewashes #fens #theearlybirder

Blue sky has been in very short supply this Winter but what a difference even a gentle kiss of sunlight can make…. #bluesky

And just like that, they’re back. The winter aconites at Little Orchard, coaxed from the damp ground by a modicum of fog-filtered sunlight, their ruffed yellow globes the first hint that Spring is just around the corner #aconite #aconitum #winteraconites #yellow #wildflower #theearlybirder

Now that we seem weather-wise to have slipped back into a perpetual repetition of daily dull dankness, it does make those few days of crisp frosty conditions seem all the more special. Here, tines of hoar form on arching bramble stems already bristling with spiky thorns…

Yesterday I was having a search in the shed for various items when I came across this beautiful peacock butterfly Aglais io. This species will spend the winter as adults in a dormant state somewhere cool but sheltered, such as the stack of old fence posts that this one had chosen….

The teasels opposite the kitchen window at Little Orchard have been a real attraction for the local goldfinches. This was them during the recent heavy frost, adorned with hoary spikes and set against the blank canvas of a freezing fog… #teasel #spiky #frost #hoar #winter #theearlybirder

I love the way the recent frost picked out every perfect detail of this spider’s web at Little Orchard #frost #frosty #spiderweb #natureart

Last Summer’s hogweed seed head transformed into a frosty firework to celebrate the arrival of a Winter’s day…. #frost #frosty #hoar #theearlybirder

These incredible ice sculptures were formed near a field drain where water was splashing onto nearby vegetation and enveloping it in successive layers of ice…they remind me of the rounded calcareous dripstones that develop into stalagmites in caves… #ice #icesculptures #natureart #theearlybirder

Another photo of yesterday’s temperature inversion taken from Brush Hill looking west towards Bledlow a little earlier in the afternoon…

Looking out from the rounded promontory of Brush Hill, a magnificent temperature inversion yesterday, the low grounds of the dips and the valleys dissecting the landscape and leading out into the Vale of Aylesbury filled with a layer of freezing cold air… #theearlybirder