Winter over the reserve © Charlie Wheeler
With the recent cold snaps falling over the South West it was only a matter of time before we saw the first ‘white beach’ of the year! Of course being part of the coastline the temperature needs to drop considerably for a frost to set on the pebbles. These images also show parts of the Swannery embayment frozen. Being the furthest point from the mouth of the Lagoon, there is considerably less salt at the western end of the Fleet and is therefore more prone to freezing over. Thankfully on this day, only a small percentage of the embayment was frozen, but in the past, the Fleet has been known to freeze in most years. Throughout the 70’s and 80’s the Fleet froze several times all the way to the Narrow and also once in the 90’s. Nowadays, with milder winters the Fleet generally stays ice free, which is probably good news for our many thousands of water fowl that visit us to feed in the winter.
Frost on the beach and areas of frozen water © Charlie Wheeler
Frost on the beach © Charlie Wheeler