IT’S ABOUT TIME…..

….This is my first post since the start of the year and I guess most of you will have now fully recovered from all the excesses and celebrations and, despite all the rain, be well into the delights and discoveries of 2014, it certainly seems that way when reading all of your excellent posts.
The main reason that I’ve not done a post till now is due to a large dose of apathy brought on by starting the year off with a mega cold/flu(?) that lasted from Boxing day through the most of the first three weeks of January. Then for the last couple of weeks it’s been a matter of finding the time, there seems to have been lots of those little important jobs that couldn’t be left any longer and needed to be done.  The third reason/excuse is that, although I’ve been out and about on a few occasions (most times with Keith), I’ve not managed to take many decent photographs.

So, after all of the excuses here’s a few almost half decent images!

This first one was taken on New Years Day when Keith and I, after visiting RSPB Titchwell in Norfolk, went to the nearby Holkham Nature Reserve. The day day had turned cold and wet with a steady downpour, it wasn’t doing my cold any good!  Little did we expect to find this many people out in the cold and the rain, the road is about a mile long, there were so many cars and people that we had difficulty finding anywhere to park the car!

What’s it like in the Summer??

A few flight shots…


Mute Swan  RSPB Frampton Marsh Lincolnshire - 2nd.January


Cormorant  Caldecotte Lake Buckinghamshire – 23rd. January


Male Pochard  WWT Welney Norfolk – 27th. January



Mallard WWT Welney Norfolk - 27th. January



Lapwing RSPB Frampton  Lincolnshire – 3rd. February


Part of a large flock of Black-tailed Godwit  RSPB Frampton – 3rd. February

Location - Location - Location

Carrying on from the previous post this is the second in a series of three posts (not many words of wisdom just a selection of images that I hope you will enjoy) each one dedicated to a different location that I've had the pleasure of visiting since the beginning of the month.

I have visited Caldecotte Lake in Milton Keynes Buckinghamshire on a few occasions since the beginning of the month and in varying weather conditions, ranging from snow lying on the ground with the lakes almost frozen over, to a cold overcast day with a blustery wind blowing, through to a sunny day with a bright blue sky.

But, no matter what the weather, the wildlife around the lakes never fails to throw up a good photo opportunity or two.

The photos...

One of the ever present Mute Swans patrolling his patch

 

 And the 'stars' that have taken up residence, sometimes in quite large numbers, over the last month....

Goosanders

Male

Female

Carrion Crow...on the lookout for apple cores, maybe?

A Male Pochard

Cormorant in breeding plumage...the white thigh patch is 'flashed' during the courtship display!

On the day when there was snow on the ground and everything was frozen solid I spotted a group of Long-Tailed Tits busily flitting through the branches of some recently felled trees and I noticed that this one was going from branch to branch drinking from the icicles that had formed on the ends.....unfortunately not a very good photograph as I was shooting into the light!!

Dunnock

Reed Bunting...a male, almost into his black faced breeding plumage.

 And if your quick enough there's always a chance of a flight shot...

Greylag Goose

Black Headed Gull

Grey Heron

For those of you who have yet to 'see the light!' pop over to Caldecotte Lake where you can accompany Keith as he gives you a daily tour around the lake with the help of his excellent photos and videos.

Where Romans once roamed

Yesterday I visited Verulamium Park in St. Albans.

Here`s a brief description courtesy of Wikipedia. (sorry but the links don`t work!)

Verulamium Park in St Albans, Hertfordshire. Set in over 100 acres of beautiful parkland, Verulamium Park was purchased from the Earl of Verulam in 1929 by the then City Corporation. Today the park is owned and operated by St Albans City and District Council
The park is named after the Roman City of Verulamium on which it stands. The City walls and outline of the main London Gate can still be seen. Archaeological excavations were undertaken in the park during the 1930s by Sir Mortimer Wheeler and his wife Tessa, during which the 1800 year old Hypocaust and its covering mosaic floor were discovered. The Hypocaust Mosaic is on view to the public and currently protected from the elements by a purpose-built building in the park. On the outskirts of the park is Verulamium Museum, which contains hundreds of archaeological objects relating to everyday Roman life in what was a major Roman City. A pub, Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, is also located on the edge of the park. This pub has been listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest such establishment in England.
A main feature of the park is the ornamental lake. Construction started on this project during 1929, giving much needed work to the unemployed of St Albans during the depression. The lake is fed by the River Ver. And one, of the two, islands in the lake supports one of the few heronries to be found in Hertfordshire, On North-eastern edge of the park is St Albans Cathedral and on the North-western edge is St Michael's Church,

The morning started out frosty and dull but soon brightened up into a mostly sunny, but chilly day. I was quiet surprised to find that the lake was almost completely frozen over (I didn`t think it had been that cold!) with just a few gaps in the ice where the wildfowl had gathered.
 
Sightings List:-
(On the lake) Mallard, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Mute Swan, Coot, Moorhen, Canada Goose, Grey Heron,  
(In the parkland) Wood Pigeon, Feral Pigeon, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Blackbird, Blue tit, Great tit and a Robin heard singing but not seen!      

On the Heronry island I counted Eight Grey Herons mostly standing on or tending the nests, but two appeared to have ‘sitting’ birds already (a little early perhaps? maybe they were just resting!)                                                                                                                             
 There was also a large flock of gulls resting on the ice in the centre of the lake, mostly Black-headed with a few Herring and at least one Lesser black backed. And on the river that runs beside the lake there were lots of 'hybrid' ducks of  many varied colours and designs along with a large number of Coots (I counted at least 70!)

I`m afraid I got a little carried away with the beautiful lighting from the low sun and took in excess of 800 photographs!!  Here are a few and I`ll post some more when I`ve processed them. 

Roman Wall

The Bridge at the north end of the Lake

The Heronry

Male Pochard

Female Pochard

Male Tufted Duck

Female Tufted Duck

 And finaly a Tufted Duck with what appears to be an elastic band around its neck. Fortunatly it didn`t seem to be bothered by it, and I suppose at this time of year a little bit of bling can`t do any harm!!