A colourful Friday is better than a black one

If you watch the news, visit the High Street or follow social media, it will hardly have escaped your attention that today is the so called "Black Friday" when retailers across the world slash prices and try to entice you to buy the latest "must-have" bargain that you don't really need. OK, so sometimes you really can pick up a good deal - we've capitalised to book holidays on Black Friday in recent years - but surely there are better things to do with your life then troll the Internet or wander the High Street in search of a bargain. Especially when the weather is as good as it has been in Suffolk today.

The thought of sitting in the office on such a stunning late autumn day was too much. I had to take a long lunchtime wander around the Scrape, soaking up the amazing light, immersing myself in nature, and refreshing both body and spirit. A walk in nature is better than any mindfulness exercises as far as I'm concerned.

My walk started in fine style with a couple of siskins and goldfinches bathing beneath the willows at the edge of the pond. Nature doesn't get more colourful than those two small finches, but that was only the start of the kaleidoscope of colour that Minsmere has to offer right now.

The view looking north from the North Wall towards the National Trust Coastguards Cottages at Dunwich Heath is always one of the most iconic views at Minsmere, and with blue skies and golden reeds reflected in the calm water of the reedbed pools, it was certainly at its best today.

The mute swan looked particularly attractive as it preened on the pool too.

The view from East Hide across the Scrape is always one of my favourites.

The picture doesn't do East Scrape justice either. It is teeming with ducks: wigeon, gadwall, teal, shoveler, mallard & shelduck. At least 28 black-tailed godwits fed on the Scrape, with a good seasonal count of 13 avocets and a couple of dunlins, plus the three Bewick's swans that had been on Island Mere earlier in the day. Some of the ducks even come close to the hide, like this beautiful drake shoveler.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was a red admiral flitting over the reeds as I left the hide.

On such a beautiful late autumn day, the views across the golden reedbed from the sluice, with South Belt woods in the background, certainly take some beating.

I didn't get a chance to wander down to Island Mere, but the reedbed wildlife has been extremely obliging  with sightings of bitterns, otters, marsh harriers and bearded tits as well as the unusual sight of a single juvenile whooper swan. I say unusual because whooper swans usually migrate as family parties and it is rare for youngsters to become separated from their parents.

I have rarely seen South Scrape looking as colourful as it did today, the sky reflecting beautifully in the flat calm water.

The gull roost on South Scrape wasn't as big as usual, and most of the wgeon were feeding around the far edges, but this redshank clearly wanted its photo taken as it fed along the near shore.

So, too, did the little egret on West Scrape, which stood out in its crisp white plumage. I was pleased that my camera picked out the colour contrast, despite me leaving it in auto.( Whistling Joe - I haven't plucked up the courage to switch to manual yet! I hope you like the composition of these two pictures.)

On such a stunning autumn day, it's impossible to not to walk though the woods without kicking a few leaves, and there's certainly a deep carpet of them to kick now.