High-tide and the salt-marsh is inundated,  ribbons of green submerged beneath the blue. After a good feed, flocks  roost on the shore-line.  They're indistinct but Knot, probably Knot. In the middle-distance  Brent Geese continue grazing.  A dark mantle looping  beneath pale bellies gleaming in sunlight, a caparison of black on white.   Through January, I've contemplated  Brent Geese so in good light I can tell at a glance, afar off.  Toward the horizon,  a mystery flock shows in flight over the deep blue of Piel Channel with Barrow in Furness  transformed in sunlight. 

​A marsh harrier flies over the wetland and comes down in a tree almost lost in mist. A heron alights on the fringe of the reed-bed and stands motionless, seeking prey.  A fox appears out of the golden reeds and crosses before the heron, stepping gingerly as if he doesn’t want to muddy his paws in water-logged stubble.  He might swim, if he chose.  

 Mike Zeller interviewed me on the publication of About Scout Scar in 2008.  Scout Scar, my study area,the countryside on my doorstep. Unfortunately, Mike phoned in sick so Pete Otway stepped-in, last minute. 
'Can't you go somewhere else?'   I live close to Scout Scar, it's where I come alive. I'm existential on Scout Scar,  the countryside I choose for home wherever that might be.   To be denied my place  is a loss of freedom, of independence.   In challenging winter weather,  dark winter days,  residents need a spontaneous and impromptu walk, not a grand plan.
'Do you understand the need for safety? '
A pause, muffled laugh from me. I've been campaigning for a 'safe, direct and familiar' route for over 12 years. From 2012, for a footway on the approach to Brigsteer Bridge to keep walkers/ runners safe.
Since bridge closure on 12th June I've campaigned for this same 'SAFE, DIRECT and FAMILIAR' access via Brigsteer Bridge.  What is happening daily at the bridge IS HIGHLY DANGEROUS. Not a hypothetical risk but real and actual
THE COUNTRYSIDE on our DOORSTEP
I'm a naturalist and wherever I might live becomes my study area.  The bond grows deeper over time, as we tune-in to the rhythms of the seasons, learn to know our place, learn to love it in all weathers. 
Can't you go somewhere else?  Well no, not when you're recovering from an illness or an injury. Not if you're elderly and infirm.  Not at a moment's notice.  And there's a Scout Scar community so it's a place to meet friends.

A landscape of sparkling frost with New Year's Eve floodwaters now gleaming ice.  Minus 2 degrees as we cross  Jubilee Bridge onto South Walney.  The track from Coastguard Cottages is floodwater and ice.  On a cold, calm and bright day at New Year the saltmarsh looks wonderful, its rich reds threaded with pools and shallows of ice-blue,  deep blue in the deeps of Piel Channel.  Piel Castle always the focal point.   A faint call of curlew, and redshank.  South Walney in winter can be a wildlife spectacle so what might the day bring.