The first one

Over the past couple of days I have walked each day. On day one it wasn't even two kilometers, on day two it was just over three and on day three, I doubled that. Mind you, I nearly gave up before even getting started. You can see in the first photo what the path was like. A stretch of about 400 meters I would say and it was just mud. 

It was hard going, as it wasn't just mud, it was sucking in mud, slippery mud, sliding mud, wet mud and there were barely any patches where it was a bit safer to walk. I had my camera in hand and even though I felt it was not the best idea to do so, I couldn't pack it away either as it would have meant putting my back pack down in the mud.

The 'border' between the public (where I walked) and the private area of this nature park.

I did manage to get across this bit though and then the walk really started for me. And a lovely walk it was. It was a walk through one of the newer areas of the country. Literally. It was only formed in the sixties and seventies of the last century and has been left to its own devices (managed, but still) since then. 

The black animals are the cattle, the deer are in front of them.

On the north end of the railway tracks that divide the area up, there are lots of cattle and deer. On the south end there are Koninks horses. I only saw cattle from one vantage point, until I got home, looked at the photo and realised there were a whole lot of deer in front of the cattle.

The horses were a bit harder to spot though, even though I walked in their area. Plenty of poop to show they were in the area, but not the animals themselves though. Never mind, there were birds to see as well and even though I didn't capture the birds of prey, I did get robins, great tits and some bigger birds like swans, geese and herons.

Not three, but four horses!

And then all of a sudden they were there: three horses, well camouflaged by the surrounding grass and reeds. Two of them stubbornly refused to show me anything but their behinds, the third one was a bit more cooperative and I managed to photograph it head-on. Again it wasn't until I got home and looked at the photos that I realised there was another horse in the photo (I showed it yesterday).

A bit further on, I got another two and then the walk was nearly over. Just the mud to contend with. This time I knew what was coming and managed to pack my camera away before venturing out to conquer the mud.

Yeah, not a chance!

I did manage it, but I was glad I had some clean shoes and a clean pair of jogging bottoms to wear as there was no way I was allowed in my own car the way I looked! And yes, I changed in the parking lot where people were going past. Needs must and such...