A NEW YEAR SELECTION


 It's been a while since I've posted on here...about six months!, for no good reason apart from a large dose of lethargy on my part. So, I thought I'd better make the effort and start off the new year with a selection of images taken over the last month.

We've had a few crisp, bright and frosty days over the last few weeks and most of the local water bodies have had large amounts of ice on them, concentrating the wildfowl into smaller areas than normal...making life a little easier for the photographer...!


Gadwall taking flight...

Tufted Duck fly over...

 
 A pretty in pink Mr. Wigeon...

 There's quiet a few Goosander being reported in the area at the moment...

Still finding it difficult getting the contrast right between the iridescent green head and the subtle salmon pink tinged body of the male!

Plenty of 'winter' thrushes about at the moment too...

Fieldfare

Redwing

A male Reed Bunting... 

And in plain view, instead of using it's camouflage to 'hide' in the undergrowth, a fly over Snipe...

And my 'bestest' little birds of the year..so far!..a very showy pair of Stonechats...

 Female

Male

That's it...thanks for looking.

 

HOLIDAY SNAPS

Just recently I enjoyed a week's holiday on the beautiful North Norfolk coast...lots of birding, lots of walking and, of course, the usual mix of weather!
As you would expect I took more than a few photos! 
It's still an ongoing job sorting them out but I'm slowly wading my way through them.


Here's some that I think are worth sharing....

 A desert island?

 Distant Whimbrel

 Ancient beauty

 Colour amongst the seaweed...male Linnet

 There be jungle!

 Cause for excitement...a scarce Curlew Sandpiper.

 Now, where's that deckchair seller and the ice cream man?

 Fulmar 1

Fulmar 2 

 Taking in the view

 Little Tern

 Stranded

 Spoonbill

 North Westerlies...again!

 Redshank on guard

Reed Bunting

 

And a bit of a sunset to end with....

...I hope you weren't too bored?

 

THE KITES AND BUNTING ARE OUT........

....FOR A SPECIAL CELEBRATION.

Reed Bunting


 

This is where it all started...in the front bedroom of a small two up two down terraced cottage located in a small South Cambridgeshire village close to the Hertfordshire border...

 

Red Kite




....65 years ago on the 27th. April 1951 a small bundle of joy was brought into the world.
 

 (I'm glad that I soon grew out of the dress wearing phase!)

 Celebrating Corn Bunting and Reed Bunting.

The blonde hair didn't last long either, although during the last decade it does (what's left of it) appear to have once again reverted towards a lighter shade...of grey! 

 

Red Kite

65 years is a good amount of time to perfect your own style and persona to present to the world....

 

...how do you think I've done?

 

Corn Bunting


Now I find that some days trying to keep up the standard is just sooo tiring!....

 

 

A Walk In The Sunshine

Just lately we haven’t had many sunny days but yesterday, after an early morning frost, the sun rose into a clear blue sky. So I decided that it was an opportunity that was too good to miss and set off for a walk around one of my local nature reserves.



I spooked a large flock of Yellowhammers that were feeding on the set aside ground by the footpath, fortunately they didn’t go far and settled high in the trees where they appeared like jewels sparkling in the sunshine.




A small party of Reed Buntings were making their way along the hedgerow and not giving too many photo opportunities as they kept low down amongst the branches. Eventually curiosity must have gotten the better of this female as she popped up for a quick and nervous look, maybe to see what the strange creature following along behind them was!




There were also quite a few Fieldfare and Redwing (and Blackbirds) feeding on the abundant berries along the hedgerow, unfortunately, they are so wary and skittish birds, they always managed to stay safely out of camera range. (After many attempts I’ve still not got any decent images of either Fieldfares or Redwings…one day!!)

Further on around the reserve and I came across a pair of Stonechats using a fence line as a lookout perch to spot and dive down onto any unsuspecting insects. They managed to keep, what they decided was, a safe distance ahead of me by moving along one post at a time. The male did sit still for long enough and allow me to fire off a couple of shots.




As well as the birds mentioned I also saw (unfortunately no decent photographs!) a large flock (50+) of Goldfinch feeding on Teasel heads, a Kestrel perched in a distant tree, an overflying and very vocal Buzzard also numbers of Magpie, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow,Blue Tit, Woodpigeon and singles of Wren, Robin and a Great Spotted Woodpecker ‘tapping’ away high up in a dead tree.

And finally… I was treated to a flyby by a fast moving green missile…or maybe it was a Green Woodpecker? I managed to fire off a quick burst of shots and this, massively cropped, is the best one.



If you look closely it appears to have it’s eyes closed…maybe it was scared at the speed it was going or perhaps it was just having a nap with the auto pilot turned on?!!

I was pleased that I made the effort and had a good three hour plus walk in the sunshine (although the breeze was a bit nippy at times) and got to see a good selection of birds. I also didn’t see another human being!!
Oh yeh!…I also saw and photographed quite a few different species of Fungi (wet and dirty knees and elbows time again!) which I’ve yet to properly sort ID’s for…I sometimes wish that I didn’t take so many photographs!

A MAN FROM THE NORTH AND ROSEMARY'S DUCKS

Earlier in the week I had the pleasure of meeting up with a fellow blogger.  

Adrian  the self styled old age traveller of Adrian's Images fame, he who keeps us entertained with his dry and witty musings as he wends his way around the country in his camper van accompanied by his faithful sidekicks  Alf and Molly, had come to visit  'our patch' for a couple of days.  

I'm not going to bore you with the details of what we did or where we went, Adrian tells it much better than I ever could in his blog.

 
The first day was spent walking around Keith's local lake, Caldecote.  And later a photo session with some ornamental ducks on the pond  at Adrian's camp site. The evening before Adrian had chatted up and worked his charm on Rosemary the proprietor'ess of the campsite who came and unlocked the gate to the pond and allowed us to go in and take photographs at our leisure . (there was a high electric fence and cage around the pond to keep out the local foxes and other unwelcome visitors!)


Rosemary's Ducks

                       
                        Bahama Pintail                                 Silver Bahama Pintail

                         Marbled Teal                                              Ferruginous Duck

                                Chiloe Wigeon                                Cinnamon Teal

                                           Mr and Mrs Carolina Wood Duck

Day two involved an early start and a visit to Summer Leys reserve in Northamptonshire. Unfortunately the wildfowl on the water were mobile and distant after being disturbed be a group of people using boats to undertake some sort of survey work. 

A distant Shelduck adds some colour to the grey water.

One highlight of the day was seeing a beautiful pair of Bullfinches as they visited the feeding station and also a paddling cock Pheasant. 

He looked none too happy getting his feet wet!

A female Reed Bunting bracing herself against the wind!

And further on a group of Goldfinch shining in the sunlight as they busily fed on some Teasel  heads.

 

And to round the day off Adrian treated Keith and myself to a meal in the local pub.

Thanks Adrian, it was a pleasure to meet and walk with you,  I hope you enjoyed your all too brief visit to our local patch. Perhaps next time you'll be able to stay a bit longer and we can show you more of our local sites, and maybe with some sunshine thrown in for good measure!