Sunday morning, with sunshine and wind

I've had a mad week this week, so I haven't had much time to update the blog.  I've also had a really grizzly cold, which hasn't helped, my first of the year.  Why is it that all I ever want to eat when I have a bad cold are chips and chocolate? The chip craving was resolved yesterday after a trip to the movies at the Greenwich Picture House (the Pier Fish Restaurant) does some of the best take-away chips ever), and I happened to have some unopened Thornton's chocolates ready and waiting.  All sorted.

Today was the first completely free day I have had and when I woke up, after coughing my head off all night, to a bright sunny morning I grabbed the camera and made the most of it.  A friend of mine in the U.S. says that the Autumn leaves are wonderful at the moment, but even though I had noticed that the leaf fall was relatively late this year, I was surprised at how green everything still is.  The photograph towards the end of the post shows the view from Stave Hill over to Canary Wharf, and as you can see the Woodland canopy, usually a mosaic of warm autumnal shades at this time of year, is still largely green, with only the bright yellows beginning to indicate that the darker reds and browns are on their way.

I haven't been over to the Russia Dock Woodland since before the last heavy winds, so I don't know how many of the fallen trees and branches have fallen over the entire period and how many are recent.  There were four trees down just on the winding path that follows the route of Waterman's Walk, together with a lot of fallen branches.  

There was very little wildlife around, although there was a very fine heron amongst the usual group of mallards on Globe Pond.  It was also surprisingly free of people, given how fine a morning it was, but perhaps the strong wind was a bit daunting.  It was good to see the water levels being maintained in ponds and channels, and apparently some of the channels are going to be deepened and new water plants added.  Apart from the fallen trees, everything looked well cared for.  I understand that there are plans underway to make the Woodland more children-friendly, so it will be interesting to see how those ideas materialize.

So, not much to comment on today, just a few snaps to celebrate a nice Autumn day.