Visit to RSPB Sandy

Images from my visit this week to RSPB Sandy.
All images were taken from the side of the main Bird Hide. It is currently undergoing repairs so I had to improvise by crouching down by the edge of the scaffolding at the side of the hide.

This male Siskin bathed then fed at a seed feeder.




The Greenfinch.




Male Chaffinch taking a dip.


The male Great-spotted Woodpecker.

Visit to Welney Wildfowl Reserve (Part 2)

The second and concluding post of our visit to Welney Wildfowl Reserve.

Another chance to see the sun before it goes down. This is looking out from the main hide in a south westerly direction.


Most of the 1500+ Whooper Swans that migrate to and stay in the area during the winter, spend their day out in the fields feeding and return to the Reserve in the late afternoon. You can see from this first Whooper below having just returned from the fields, that they get rather muddy feeding in the arable fields.


The graceful Whooper has to be my favourite Swan.







Below are head shots of the immature Whooper. The beak colour is quite pale and not yet yellow as are the adults.



Below are a few shots of the female Pochard Duck.





A view as we walked back over the bridge from the Reserve.


We even got to see the moon.
The sun and the moon in one day. The weather must be improving.

Taken handheld with a Canon 40D and Canon 100-400mm lens at 400mm.
1/400 at f7.1. - ISO400. Spot metering. Cropped.

Visit to Welney Wildfowl Reserve (Part 1)

The first day in a long time the weather forecast said "sunny during the day time." So as we had not visited Welney Wildfowl Reserve for quite a while that was our destination. That said, we had to drive the longer route as the normal route was flooded.

Sure enough the sun came out and there was a blue sky with some mist in the distance.

The first scene below is looking out of the main hide in a south westerly direction. This is normally a lake in the foreground and then further out in the distance patches of grassland. Because of the recent snow thaw there was a very high water level in the area. This can also occur through extensive periods of rainfall.


The second view below is looking north westerly out of the main hide. Similarly this is normally several small lakes and then grassland.


Within an hour the area near the main hide became populated with mainly male Pochard Duck and a few Whooper Swans. They had checked there watches and new that it was getting near the time that one of the Range Wardens would be throwing out feed on to the water for them.



The male Pochard with its amazing copper coloured head plumage. According to records less than 500 pairs of Pochard actually breed in UK and they disperse in winter. During the winter some 85,000 migrate to UK from northern and eastern Europe.





This plan view of a Pochard which my Wife took through the hide window looking down onto the bird. Check out the neat edge of the tail feathers.


Feeding time - 3-30pm. The Range Warden pushes a wheelbarrow out into the water and throws out food for the mass of ducks and a few Swans.


In the scene below is the Decoy netting, which is used to drive the duck into. Range staff can then ring the duck for record purposes. You can see beyond the decoy one of the hides which is presently cut off by the flooding.



You will forgive me for posting several scenes in this and the next post which show the sun in the sky. Not something we have witnessed lately.

Sepia

Monochrome

In the scene below are silhouettes of Whooper Swans which I will feature in the second post.

New Arrivals

The first lambs I have seen this year, five in all and they are quite big already.

Very dull weather as usual so I had to brighten up these shots on the computer.

Another Dull Day in the Parkland

I was struggling with the light for all of these images on yet another very dull day. When is the sun coming out.?

This small group of mainly Canada geese with a single Barnacle and Greylag goose attached were grazing in the wet meadows amongst the Rush grass.




I found this pair of Shoveler duck on a watery scrape. Not good photographs, but they give you an idea of the size of their disproportionate beaks.



On the same watery scrape this group of male Teal duck were considering their marital options. They were trying to impress the single female in attendance by bobbing their heads up and down and whistling. I don't think she was that impressed. Neither was the wise old Grey Heron who was looking on at this activity and had seen it all before.


"Got any nuts mate."


The Robin with an itch on its head.



Can you see the Dunnock.


This Grey Heron was having a problem seeing any fish, as the water in this lake was very murky due to the recent thaw which increased the water flow into the lake.