Friday 21 April 2017

Thacka Beck Nature Reserve



Had a walk round the reserve this morning, but there wasn't a great deal about. I put it down to the fact that it was dull and a quite strong North Westerly blowing. I took the path along the Hawthorns first , and found that some kind person had hung four lots of feeders in the trees. They where attracting half a dozen or more House Sparrows, also a Reed Bunting, which was not being very obliging for the camera. on the other side of the track there was a Woodpidgion chilling out. There was also a few Swallows skimming over the water, anything else on view was on the water. And for me there lies a problem. because when the reserve was first created, there was lots of gravel islands which attracted quite a few waders, unfortunatly no house keeping has been done and the whole area has been taken over with Rush, also no reports of waders in a long time.



nearly all areas covered in Rush and Reedmace

So now the islands are covered in Rush and also there is less open water.
The Hawthorns path, to the right is the main part of the reserve , which is surrounded on three sides by industrial ,estate, and just out of sight to the left is the West coast main line. the view is looking South.
House Sparrows enjoying the fat balls.
Lazy Woodpidgeon.

                                                       Woodpidgeon.

Two Lesser Black-backed Gulls had settle on the water with others flying over.



Male Mallard.

Bachelor party, hopefully the females are on nest as there was no sign of any.

A pair of distant Teal , bad timeing.

18 comments:

  1. Hello, pretty scenes and birds from your walk at the reserve. I like the gull and duck shots! Happy Friday, enjoy your weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Eileen ,
      And have a good weekend too, Gordon.

      Delete
  2. Hello Gordon and firstly let me thank you for your visit and comment last week at my blog - sorry I've been tardy in getting back to you.
    Lovely to find your great birding blog and photos of the areas you visit. Though they are amongst the smallest of our birds, sparrows and robins are my favourites!
    Hope you can visit and follow
    Regards
    Christineandhercamera.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, no apology needed, blogging can be very time consuming,and most of us have other things to do, and thanks for dropping by, Take care Gordon.

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. Thank you for that, and for looking in.
      All the best Gordon.

      Delete
  4. Hello Gordon, stopping back back to say thank you for linking up this post. Nice variety of birds and scenic shots. Have a happy weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Eileen, you are welcome, and thank you too.
      Have a good one Gordon.

      Delete
  5. Lovely nature shots and beautiful birds ~ thanks,

    Wishing you a fun weekend ~ ^_^

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for that Carol, and the same to you, Gordon.

      Delete
  6. You are so right Gordon. There's often little thought given to the long term and sadly not much expertise. Too much learnt from books and not enough experience and/or time spent in the field to know what is required.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks Phil, have a good one tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The Mallard's are beautiful..your photos so sharp and clear!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank for your kind comment, you shoul d see yhe one that get deleted LOL.
      Tke care Gordon.

      Delete
  9. Terrific show for your outing in my opinion. Ya, we have the same problem this time of year. We need rain badly to replenish the water pools for the birds. Everything is drying up quickly.

    Now that pigeon is one I've not seen before. May be 'lazy' but very attractive. Love the duck photo of the bachelor party, the teals, the gulls and can't ignore the sweet sparrows!!


    Thanks so much for linking in and sharing this with us birders at I'd Rather B Birdin' this weekend. It's much appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks Anni, and the pleasure is all mine,
    Take care, Gordon.

    ReplyDelete
  11. It is too bad that the rushes are taking over, but you still found quite a lot of nice bird life! Pretty birds and interesting about the bachelor party!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Morning Sallie, dose anybody go to sleep in Florida, LOL. Thanks for looking in and your comment, much appreciated.
      Take care, Gordon.

      Delete

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