Maria-H's photostream  

The cottage in the woods in Dunham Massey was once a slaughterhouse for the deer park. The shadows of the bare trees gave it a rather spooky look, so I decided to do a little experimentation with the processing (with a bit of inspiration from zawtowers recent b&w shot of this). Looks best on black.

A couple more shots below - another "spooky" view and a more benign version of the one above, with the lovely winter blue sky.

This pair of swans did not seem very happy - their pool was almost frozen over and they had been swimming on a nearby smaller pool, not frozen due to running water. They waddled back to the main pool and I followed them to see what they would do next. They then took me by surprise and suddenly half skated, half flew, across the pool to the only remaining clear water. I aimed the camera - not having time to check the settings - and hoped for the best. These shots aren't technically great or sharp but I quite like them.

Some more shots below, the first just before thie main one and the other two after.

This little Blue Tit was so busy peeling back the bark on this branch to get at something to eat, that it didn't notice me sneaking up closer to get a better shot. These are certainly my best Blue Tit shots to date!

A couple more shots below.

Six in a great age for learning and it is wonderful to see our grandson soaking up knowledge and learning new skills.

Great Tit at Etherow Country Park - the best shot I've been able to get of one of these, so far.