Sunday 16 February 2014

And the sun shone

Well the Met office was on the ball as regards the Northern half of the country, the sun was shinning the moment I opened my peepers. So time was not be wasted and by 8-30 I was on my feet, (you've got to break yourself in gently). Breakfasted , then out with the Westies, and then a cuppa before setting off again, to give the patch a bashing. I have to say it was  desperate, no sign of any small birds along the big hedge, apart from a couple of Blackbirds, which where flighty so no pics.

Moorhen
There would be something wrong if there was none of these on show, and it looked as if the sun was having the Spring effect on them !!. I have to say at this point that not one bird was within grasping distance of the big lens. Oh to be in Florida where the wild life jumps out to greet you, well that's not going to happen in the foreseeable future, so get over yourself Williams.

Juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull.
I think I'm right with this one, I'm not that brill with Juvenile gulls.

Same bird side view.

Black-headed Gull
For a change there wasn't many Gulls on the reserve, but plenty in the grazing fields beyond the patch.
   On the pond nothing but Mallard, the pond is an area that although not part of the reserve, I think the Wild life trust are beginning to take it under their wing.
   
A few Mallard enjoying the sun
Next up, and I heard it singing before I found it

Song Thrush



Rapidly followed by,

Carrion Crow, sat opposite the Thrush.
Next I had a walk up to the Flash and was pleasantly surprised to find two Oystercatchers.

I  haven't seen any of these up there for ages
And lastly I made my way up to the horse paddocks, more gulls and a few Jackdaws

Jackdaw.
After this I made my way back home, thinking I could have made better use of the day, had I had the car.  For more birdy pics follow the linkhttp://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.co.uk/

13 comments:

  1. You're right Gordon. The birds aren't playing ball with the camera at the moment, not like some of the exotic (and sunny) spots we like. Never mind, I definitely got that Spring feeling this morning. Won't be long now.

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  2. Yes, it was a good day. Lots a birdies. Great collection that you've seen Gordan.

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  3. hooray for sun! :) i know you've had dreadful weather over there! great sightings.

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  4. Bright days would seem to be a bit of a rarity in your neck of the woods this winter - hope it dries out a bit soon! I like the Jackdaw.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  5. HI Gordon Sometimes it is good to have the car and yet there are times it is not needed to have a great birding day. Great shots you got.

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  6. You were able to see quite a few birds! Gulls are so difficult to identify, so I'm no help there. Some of these we don't have here and I so enjoyed seeing what varieties are in other parts of the world.

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  7. So many pretty birds enjoying the sunshine! What a joy it must have been to see the beautiful thrush and oystercatchers. I too have difficulty identifying juvenile gulls. Love the jackdaw!

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  8. You have spotted quite a lot birds.

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  9. you still managed a neat series even if it wasn't one of your better days out; I enjoyed them

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  10. Sometimes we are only lucky enough to get far away glimpses but that's ok, they are beautiful shots just the same.

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  11. A great series of photos and birds. I wish the wildlife would "jump out to greet" me more often!! The moorhen and reflection in the water is very beautiful.

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  12. I do love the birds you saw. And I'm also very glad you went virtual birding in Florida this week (thank you for the correction...I sent you an e-mail).

    I love the reflection shots too ... those are my kind of places (even if the birds don't jump out to greet me).

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  13. Me again - we get Little Terns here as well - the ID for fairy is based in the length of the white eye stripe and the presence / absence of black outer primaries - in non-breeding plumage it can be really hard!

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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A big thank you to everyone for looking in and leaving their comments, much appreciated, Gordon.