Alpacas by the River Thames

Walking by the River Thames at Whitchurch last week,

there were some lovely views. The flock of alpacas

is an interesting sight! There are several fields of them,

and they look really cuddly!

River Thames at Streatley

There is a lovely cafe at Streatley overlooking the River Thames.

It's a great place to sit with a cup of coffee and to watch the 

river roll by. It's a perfect place for a walk too.

Caversham Bridge on a Sunny Winter's Day

Yesterday it was so sunny, that I went for a walk by the 

River Thames at Caversham Bridge. After the cold

weather we have been having, it was very pleasant,

and a lot of people were out enjoying the warmth.

Caversham Bridge

Feeding the birds

So much excitement!

All the birds are joining in!

Calm again

Caversham Court

From Caversham Bridge

Blowing the Cobwebs Away

After the Christmas festivities it is a pleasure to

go for a walk by the River Thames and to "blow the

cobwebs away"

The first two images were taken on a very cold day at Henley.

The River Thames at Henley

Egyptian Geese

By contrast the other photos were taken the following day

a few miles away at Hambleden in the sunshine. The weather

felt so mild that when we stopped for a mulled wine at the

Stag and Huntsman, we sat outside in the sunshine, along 

with all the dog walkers and children, and very jolly it was too!

The speck  hovering above the hills in the photos below is a red kite!

Hambleden Hills

Hambleden Lock

The River Thames at Hambleden Lock

 Lots of walkers out and about

Beautiful clear reflections in the water

Ducklings and Goslings

I had a lovely walk along the river, and spotted  a lot of ducklings and goslings. The towpath runs alongside the River Thames, and the birds are very tame, as they are used to being fed, and came right up to me.

River Thames in Flood at Reading

The River Thames has burst its banks at Reading. I mentioned the flood in my previous post, and today managed to take some photos. 

The River Thames from Caversham Bridge.

 The area to the left of the picture is actually the park and playing fields, now under water!

Riverside path, just by Caversham Bridge is mostly under water.

Where is the path? If you look closely you can see a couple of park benches in the middle of the water!

The tow path on the other side is still open, as it is on higher ground.

River Thames at Reading Bridge

  

 Peaceful scene on the River Thames at Reading Bridge. 

 This was shattered a few seconds later by the arrival of some gulls just along the bank, snatching the bread thrown by some people for the ducks. The gulls were very noisy and entertaining, the water birds took no notice of them. I was pleased to get a shot of them swooping onto the water.

The River Thames from Bridges

Here are some photos of the River Thames taken from Bridges Restaurant, which as its name suggests is right by Caversham Bridge. Sitting at a table inside was as close to the river as possible.

The River

The River Thames was glistening in the Autumn sunshine.

English Summer Day

The River Thames at Shiplake, looking at its best on an English summer day.

Riverbank

I walked along the riverbank this morning, and found it very peaceful, with not much wildlife. There were a only a few ducks, geese and coots, and I surprised a wren, or he surprised me, as he was in a tree right beside me.

River Thames at Shillingford and Benson

We have had so much rainfall over the past few weeks that we couldn't go on any of our favourite walks near Henley, owing to the river having burst its banks and flooding the towpaths and nearby fields. Instead of Henley we went further north and to the higher ground of Shillingford and Benson. You can see the levels were really high and dramatic.  Although the first and second photos look like a river with lakes, it is in fact the river with flooded fields! These photos were taken on my new phone, and I am quite pleased with the first one, and the others are satisfactory. It has just taken me a few days to work out how to upload the photos to Picassa then on to the blog, but I think I have it now! I hope it will be quicker next time!

I have enlarged my photos as requested by Bea.

The River Thames at Caversham

I took these photos at Caversham Bridge yesterday, in the gap when the rain had stopped for a short while. The River Thames is very high, and I hope you can see from the second photo how fast flowing it is.