First walk in nature of the new year

Hello hivers, I hope the new year is treating you well.

My mother used to tell me to "Start as you mean to go on Edward". And this year I am doing that, well so far so good anyways.

This is a little pictorial of my first walk in nature for the
Amazing Nature Contest: Thematic Challenge - #1/1/22
The topic is: The first walk in nature this year.

Location Beveridge Park, Kirkcaldy, Kingdom of Fife, Scotland

If you know me, then you will know that I visit this park often, primarily to feed the animals and then to have a walk.

First up was the boating pond, which since the start of the pandemic has had no boats and is a haven for all kinds of birds. There is a resident pair of swans who had seven babies of cygnets last year. Unfortunately one of them did not make it and there was six. Swans are very territorial and the male swan has been running off the cygnets and there are now only three left. The other three have departed for pastures new. The male chases the cygnets round and round the island to get them to fly.

This picture is the first thing I saw today, and it looks like the seagulls are trying to run interference!

I let Dad chase the baby whilst I went to feed the mother and the other two cygnets.

The little brown pellets in the water between the swans is special duck and swan food that I order from Amazon and feed to them. Do you see the two seagulls fighting? When they get too close to the swans, the swans do like to peck them, so the gulls try to get in and quick, but get in each other's way and end up fighting.

I also noticed some new visitors. These are Tufted ducks (Aythya fuligula) and the black and white ones are males, whilst the black and brown one is female. They are so cute and not afraid of the swans. They are active divers and if in trouble dive under the swan.

Next, it was time to go and have a walk.

Winter is here and most of the trees are bare and naked without any leaves.

Whilst the sky was a lovely blue, the weather is deceiving, it actually was freezing. I walked through the fountain garden that was created as a memorial to Mayor Beveridge from his wife, after he created the park when she asked for green space to be provided for the townsfolk.

You can see the ice on the fountain pond, and the stick stuck in the frozen ice. A couple of dogs tried to jump in like they normally do but just slid across to the other side of the pond.

Next up, was a walk in the woods.

Nature is amazing, when I come here in the summer, the leaves are on the trees and they actually make it quite dark.

On I walked or more like hiked in amongst the fallen leaves, until I started to go downhill and headed for the river.

However, I had to stop before I got to the river, because I heard a rustle in the leaves. I investigated.

Yes, a wee squirrel wanted some food, so I gave him some oats and nuts and made his day. Do you see how thick his tail is, that is his winter tail, it is so much fluffier in the wintertime.

And now on I went, chasing waterfalls until I found them.

Down by the river there are always rotting logs and they are a haven for mushrooms.

What do you eat for Turkey?

In the UK we generally eat turkey.

This is a Trametes versicolor more commonly know as a Turkey Tail, see I thought this would be an apt end to my walk.

Actually when I got home, I did some research on this Turkey Tail here and here and found out all about its amazing medicinal qualities and it makes awesome turkey Tea too!

Nature is amazing, we always can learn from her if we want, although this is a a new week in a new year, I am still learning.