Leybourne Lakes in Winter

Roaden Island Lake.  Leybourne Lakes, 2 January 2014.

Leybourne Lakes is a group of old gravel pits by the River Medway that have been converted into a country park, a leisure centre and a housing complex.  Like other old gravel pits, it is a good spot for birds, and there is also some interesting botany on the site.

The lakes are not actually very large at all, even though the biggest is known as the Ocean Lake.

There are three characteristics found in many country parks in this area.  They are: golf courses, land unsuited to agriculture, and power lines.  You can see power pylons in the background here.  This park is clearly too wet for either agriculture or golf.

Path between The Ocean and Roaden Island Lake.  Leybourne Lakes, 2 January 2014.

Of course, there isn't much botany to see in the winter, but it's still a pleasant walk, even where, as here, one lake is flowing into another across the path that separates them.  That's only about half an inch deep along the right hand side, and quite walkable if you can jump a few feet.  Normally, it's dry, but we have had wet weather recently.

Rose bush with hips on a flood plain.  Leybourne Lakes, 2 January 2014.

At one side of the lakes is an area of flood plain with scattered rows and clumps of bushes, and strange paths that lead straight to nowhere.  I'll have to come back in summer and see if this makes more sense!

The rose hips show that there is at least some pleasant botany.  And so does this:

Teasel, Dipsacus fullonum, with seedlings growing from the seed head.  Leybourne Lakes, 2 January 2014.

There were hundreds of these dried Teasels, many with little seedlings like this growing directly from the seed heads.  Interesting and quite pretty.

The Teasel was taken with my EOS 6D and 100mm macro lens; the others, including the flood plain panorama below (complete with power line), with my iPhone.  Panoramas are very smooth and easy to take with the iPhone.

Panoramic view of a flood plain.  Leybourne Lakes, 2 January 2014.