Tuesday 31 January 2012

A VISIT TO WILSTONE RESERVOIR





Last Friday  (27-01-12) I went on a visit to Wilstone Reservoir, part of the Tring Reservoirs in Hertfordshire.  The sun was shining in a bright blue sky unfortunately there was a strong, bitterly cold, NW wind blowing.
A quick scan across the water revealed all the usual suspects, Mallard, Coot, G C Grebe and Pochard all in varying amounts, accompanied by small groups of Teal and Wigeon and of course the ever present Black-Headed Gulls!

Over the last few weeks there have been two long staying 'celebrities' a Dark-bellied Brent Goose and a Water Pipit. After a short walk, to its regularly reported favourite spot, I soon caught a rather fleeting glimpse of the Water Pipit, just enough time to grab a couple of quick record shots before it was gone!


 
Pied Wagtails were constantly flitting along the shore line accompanied by a single Grey Wagtail and, by the Reed beds in the far corner, a flock of around thirty Linnets.

Grey Wagtail

Linnet (female)

 
I then spotted  the other Wilstone 'celebrity'  the Dark-bellied Brent Goose just as it took off from the water to make a series of close fly by's before landing in its normal grazing field, soon to be joined by Canada and Greylag Geese.



 

Then there was a quick visit by two Red Kites who made a few lazy circles overhead before being 'seen off' by a group of Jackdaws that had until then been noisily minding their own business in the nearby tree tops.




There were also quite a few Redwing and Fieldfare busily looking for food in surrounding meadows and also searching the hedgerows for any remaining berries.

Redwing

Fieldfare (he thinks I can't see him!)


And finally I spent some time watching the Teal and Wigeon 'dabbling' in the shallows.

Wigeon (male)


 The video...





15 comments:

holdingmoments said...

Well done with the Water Pipit Trevor; not seen one of those before, and the Brent Goose is such a smart looking bird. Always reminds me of someone in their Sunday best lol

Enjoyed the video too.

ShySongbird said...

Hi Trevor, you had a very rewarding visit and I enjoyed reading your account of it, lovely photos too.

Well done on catching up with the 'celebrities' neither of which I have ever seen, I would particularly love to see a Water Pipit.

I enjoyed the video too but my goodness, it was windy! Just the sound of it made me feel even chillier on this thoroughly dull and dreary Winter's day!

I spent an enjoyable time last week going through some of your archives and intend to go through some more soon. Of course if I didn't spend so much time enjoying other people's blogs I might get my own posts done!!! And yes, of course you may call me Jan :-)

The Herald said...

Thanks Keith, Yeh,I was lucky with both the Water Pipit and the 'Brent Goose, right place right time...lol. I wish that the Water Pipit had hung around for a bit longer though!...[;o)


Hi Jan, Yeh, I had a very successful and pleasant few hours, (even with the cold wind!!)

Glad you enjoyed looking through the archives...[;o)

theconstantwalker said...

It looks like you had a wonderful day Trevor lovely images.
I've never seen a Water Pipit so many thanks for sharing yours.

A nice video to watch also..

grammie g said...

Hi Trevor...I'm love with your header ; } Great going..so glad you got to see the celeb's...the Brent is a fine looking goose..and a record shot is great..beats getting skunked!!
I like the yellow on the Wagtail that's real purty ...I think my favorite is the Fieldfare photo ..love the colors in it!
Your good at the video,but you have got to put words to it...silent movies went out ages ago lol!!!! ; }
Grace

mjm said...

Those are nice flight shots of the Brent goose - now I'm wondering why I was so pleased the ones I saw here today were so content to keep grazing!! ;-)

The Herald said...

Hi, sorry for the late replies to your comments but, as my old Dad would say "I'm all behind, like a cows tail"...

Andrew, thank you. I'm only sorry that I couldn't share some better quality images of the Water Pipit wih you...[;o)

Hi Grace, Glad you like the new header, Yeh,I guess any shot is better than nothing!!...Haven't you heard silent movies are making a comeback, they're the 'in' thing now...lol...[;o)

Thanks Marilyn. I was lucky with the Brent Goose!...right time, right place. and it gave me a couple of slow fly by's...[;o)

Bob Bushell said...

Great Water Pipit Trevor, and the video, a "moving" piece.

The Herald said...

Thanks Bob...[;o)

Ruby said...

Awesome fotos.

The Herald said...

Thank you very much Ruby, glad you liked them...[;o)

BlueShell said...

Absolutely great!
Thank yo for sharing such beauty with us...
Hugs
BS

The Herald said...

Thank you Blue Shell...[;o)

tiptoethruphylsgarden.blogspot.com said...

I love your header also!
Your pictures are wonderful,of birds not seen here in the USA,thanks for sharing,phyllis

The Herald said...

Thank you for stopping by Phyllis, I'm glad you're liking what you see and thank you for you're kind comments...[;o)