Backwater Reservoir
There wasn't a single car in the car park, the sky was a perfect blue and the dam and surrounding hills coated with a blanket of snow, stunning.
I walked over towards the reservoir itself and there wasn't a whisper of breeze so the water was like glass.
There's a kind of viewing platform over the overspill chute, probably not what it is actually for but ..... anyway, it give a view of the dam itself and the reservoir, including the water tower.
To the left of the photo above is a road leading up into the pine forests and about halfway along the reservoir, I'd usually head off up there on the lookout for birds, various raptors and Crossbills but I'd already been out for a couple of hours and, to be honest, I wanted to head home and bring Jo up to see this.
A passing aircraft left a con-trail across the blue sky and a reflection in the still, blue water, wonderful, I could've stayed for hours.
The view back down the glen was just as beautiful with wave-form clouds.
There was a surprising amount of heat in that sun although the air was pretty blooming' chilly, I think I stopped noticing, the scenery had me enrapt.
I was torn whether to include this panorama from the dam itself but, in the end, I thought, at least you get some perspective of the layout of the dam and the reservoir and surrounding hills.
I was totally engrossed by the scenery, I'd never been to the reservoir under these conditions, the water so calm with blue skies and snow covered hills, I'd LOVE to come up here in these conditions for an aurora night 🤔 (Not the best road in dark icy conditions but equally, not far away)
When I did finally make it up the side of the water, the reflections again just grabbed me.
So, standing by the side of the reservoir, I took my final panorama shots of the day, it was approaching 11 o'clock, I'd left the house around 9 o'clock and I felt maybe it was time to head home, in case Jo had any plans or, ideally, we could come back up here 😉
I'd originally decided to put a black and white shot here but it just looked wrong after all that blue and white, what do you think?
Anyway, I had a fabulous morning, from a spur of the moment decision to head out and see what everything looked like to these. A wonderful morning in stunning surroundings.
I've been back quite a few times, for a few reasons, one of which is the stunning scenery but mainly to capture shots of the Crossbills and maybe ............... an eagle or two?