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

A dendritic pattern of feathery swirls reminiscent of a winter tree on my car in the ethereal light of a moonlit morning. The patterning is caused by impurities on the glass such as dust, scratches and washer fluid, but despite its prosaic provenance the outcome is an artwork of ephemeral beauty…

Looking back… outside the Natural History Museum yesterday just as the sun set over South Kensington to mark the conclusion of my final visit with students after almost forty years… #naturalhistorymuseum #southkensington #memories #lifetime #londonist #londonlove #londonphotography #theearlybirder

A spider web draped across the corner of the wood store and encrusted in ice crystals, caught in the artificial glow of a security light yesterday morning as I left Wigeon House at Welney WWT very early yesterday morning to join the Wetland Wakeup event…. #theearlybirder

The sun forming a fiery orb through the silhouetted winter trees as it descended below the horizon at the end of a crisp January day… #sunset #sunsetphotography #sunsetlover #sunsetgram #wintersunset #sun #theearlybirder

The Chilterns have been enveloped in a fine misty cloud for what seems an interminable length of time, the beech woods almost taking on the character of cloud forest, dewy droplets settling on everything in the saturated landscape…. #theearlybirder

The winter woodland canopy at Lodge Hill…it’s been a long time since the sun really shone in this corner of the Chilterns. Yesterday was particularly grey, with the escarpment almost invisible when viewed from the Vale of Aylesbury….

A monochromatic winter treescape: on a misty day leached of colour, the tightly-packed trunks of these silver birches form an arboreal barcode for change as they colonise the edge of more open heathland #tree #trees #treephotography #treesatchristmas #monochromatic #change #theearlybirder

Sometimes when you’re out searching for wildlife, it comes to you. Whilst stood scanning Batchworth Lake in the early morning mist a few days ago, this Egyptian goose came and stood alongside me as if it was wondering what I was looking at. #theearlybirder

The burning orb of the late afternoon sun suffusing the midwinter mist with a tangerine hue along the lane towards Lacey Green from Great Hampden in the Chilterns….#chilterns #chilternsnl #chilternhills #mist #midwinter #treesilhouette #wintersun #theearlybirder

Sunset over Bledlow Hill filtered through the feathery fingers of wild clematis reaching into the winter sky…#wildclematis #travellersjoy #plants #sunsetphotography #theearlybirder

As the solstice approaches I do find myself yearning for an icy interlude: a subliminal marker of seasonality, a reassurance that the cyclical pulse of nature still beats beneath our increasingly erratic weather..last year’s only local hoar frost transformed leaves and twigs into hearts and stars…

I have to admit that whilst I love the verdancy of Summer, there is something very special about the interplay of light and colour filtered through the intricacy of form that is a silhouetted winter tree: a molten December sky through the oak tree across the meadow…#theearlybirder

After such a long spell of dull, sunless weather, it was a real treat to witness yesterday’s unexpected colour show at sunset…#sunset #sunsetphotography #sunsetlight #theearlybirder

I came across this remarkable tree in the cathedral gardens on my recent visit to Canterbury. It is one of a handful of ‘baobab planes’ apparently randomly dotted across the city but when mapped plot the shape of a cross. They certainly are striking trees worth seeking out if you are nearby…

Mind the gap… a perfect window of opportunity in the Chiltern canopy created by the loss of one of the trees to recent storms. Not only will the mouldering tangle of woody debris on the forest floor create a habitat for decomposers, the ensuing light will initiate a burst of floral growth…

The slightly other-worldly, abstract combination of form and colour of this Kalanchoe thyrsiflora really caught my eye… #kalanchoe #kalanchoethyrsiflora #succulent #succulents #houseplant #plant #plantphotography #theearlybirder

Like a splash of spilt wine, the rich colour of this exquisitely-shaped leaf caught my eye amongst an accumulation of autumnal clutter blown against the base of a chainlink fence… #leaf #leaves #theearlybirder

Swan lake…a mute swan drifting through the mist of early morning at Paxton Pits…#swan #swanlake #swansofinstagram #mist #theearlybirder

Sixteen spot ladybirds are abundant in the meadows embracing Little Orchard and at this time of year can be found in loose clusters on wooden surfaces sitting out the worst of the Winter weather… #sixteenspotladybird #biodiversity #wildlifegarden #ladybird #theearlybirder

Blue chaffinch… silhouetted in the hour of that colour within the tapering curves of a regenerating elm. The hedgerows are completely denuded of any vestiges of Autumn now, shredded by the pulses of air sent thudding across the open vale by Storm Darragh…