Sunday 8 November 2009

River Walks: The Colne (1)

I walked along the Colne again today. This time, I took the bus up to Wivenhoe. From there, I headed down river a little ways. The sun was out and the light was beautiful. It was the perfect afternoon for a walk.

I could hear the cows mooing before I passed the sailing club. There was some metal banging work going on across the river in the industrial site. And then the coolest thing: a whole barge full of lapwings. They make a sort of noise one might expect of a squeaky toy. The simple sight of them was exciting for me, but to see them fly, with their beautiful white wings edged in black and watch them interact kept me standing in one place, watching and snapping photos, for a good five minutes. (Approaching loud children drove me and the birds away.)

The other highlight of today's walk was that the river was at high tide and so was full of water. It reflected the sky so nicely and was particularly beautiful come sunset.



I turned back towards Wivenhoe after about a mile and then walked all along the waterfront and towards the Quays. The sun was setting behind the little ridge of hills. The clouds in the sky turning a light pink, the calm river reflecting the sky back. I realized that I sometimes take distant clouds for mountains and then remember where I am. Wishful thinking, I suppose.

My words can't do the sunset justice.

I did see something small swimming down river, just a little head peaking out of the water. It was either a very small duck or some sort of submerged animal. Could it be an otter? Whatever it was, it was closely followed by a mini-fridge. Yep, a mini-fridge. It's door removed, the sterile white inside expose, the whole rectangular cube of it was on its way out to sea (or at least the dam).

(Pictures from today's walk can be found at www.dotphoto.com. Guest username Tigrnite. No password.)

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