I was away from my usual haunts this morning, visiting the Lake Wood woodland nature reserve near Uckfield. It was the first time I’ve been there, but it’s an absolute gem of a place. Today’s post is something of a scene setter.
These are the views around the lake. There’s relatively little bird life on the lake itself (it is home to large pike), but the surrounding woodland is home to a great many species.
As for the birds, there were plenty of blue tits around.
Several long-tailed tits were also flitting among the trees nearby.
And a pretty little treecreeper. It’s always a pleasure to see them.
I’ll be going back there over the coming months (the reason for that will eventually become clear). I’m looking forward to it.
Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
dW
29 Mar 2014Lovely place, Words … looks very natural. I assume, by your use of the word “lake”, that this is considerably larger than Falmer Pond.
Bloody awful name, Uckfield … I’ve been in fields I would name that, and I’ve lost shoes in them.
Darko
29 Mar 2014lol 😛
Words
29 Mar 2014dW, the name comes from the river Uck, so I guess the town was laid out in the surrounding valley. We have some pretty strange place names in Sussex. One of our best vineyards is in a place called Breaky Bottom. Weird!
Darko
29 Mar 2014Beautiful place, how come you didn’t go there before? Is it far away from where you are living?
I remember there is one more place that you’ve visited couple of times and made posts about it, another wildlife reserve but can’t remember the name of it…
Words
29 Mar 2014Darko, Uckfield is about 25 minutes away by car and I do go there occasionally but had never stopped off by the woods. I was shown around Lake Wood by a local ecologist who wants me to take some photos for project, so I got a really good tour around (but not much time to take too many pictures). The other place I sometimes go is Woods Mill, another local reserve.
Darko
30 Mar 2014Do you have a free access to Uckfield? That way you can plan your time. People are usually impatient and don’t want to wait for you to make enough photographs. And a good photo requires time!
Words
30 Mar 2014Darko, yes I can get there whenever I want (when I have the time). It’s a woodland trust site and so open to the public. Impatience isn’t an issue. I’ve got a deadline of around 2017. 😀