Saturday 31 March 2012

White-fronted

Its taken quite a few trips down to my local pond at Holywell in an attempt to get a few pics of the White-Fronted Goose that's been there for quite some time, I have seen it on many occasions but its always kept its distance until Thursday afternoon when I was least expecting it as I had seen a skein of about 40 flying away from the pond just twenty mins earlier but as I arrived at the public hide it was in with some Greylags that were having a wash and brush up in the afternoon sun and then came onto the land to the left of the hide,here's a few pics after some cropping.


Tuesday 27 March 2012

Return to Holywell Pond

My morning visit to the pond was met with a lot of squabbling going on especially from the Shelduck  with the males outnumbering the female five to one Canada's and the Iittle Grebes were also having a go, I didn't stay too long as I couldn't stand the noise here's a few pics from this morning ,it looks like the Greylag is waiting for his primaries to grow back in !.

Friday 23 March 2012

Holywell pond

A misty start to my visit down the pond this morning but the sun was trying a little to get through, the feeding station on the field corner was my first stop two Tree Sparrows were the only birds present in ten minutes of viewing" mmm" hope the public hide is going to be better ! I could hear plenty honking on the way down as another pair of Canada's dropped in, a few gulls and a solitary Redshank adorned the waterline then a Snipe landed in the eastern corner and started feeding straight away just as I was setting up the camera, it wasn't long before the Redshank became two as I scanned the lake Gadwall seemed to be the in ducks today with five pairs present, best birds tho were the Lapwings they were just stunning and finally a nice Grey Heron a nice couple of hours.

Friday 16 March 2012

Leucistic Blue Tit ?

Heard about it ,even saw a picture of it, so just had to go and see it for myself ,after a long wait at a feeding station in Northumberland the bird beautiful as it was only  put in a 15 second appearance just long enough to get a few pics for the blog no time to ogle unfortunately. It acts just like any other Blue Tit and didn't appear to be picked on by other birds here's a few pics ( I just couldn't resist the Dunnock).





Wednesday 14 March 2012

Dene--"Dippers"

After a brief walk down the Dene and along the burn yesterday I found myself  watching the antics of a pair of Dippers by the burn I tried a couple of shots but the light was non too good which in turn led to the pics being only mediocre. So I thought I would have another crack this morning with a bit of camouflage to see if it would help,I didn't have to wait  long and they were more than obliging, going through there mating ritual and even copulating (that of course is censored )the Wagtail was just keeping an  eye on things here's a few pics.

Tuesday 13 March 2012

West Coast Fungi

A week over in Arnside and Silverdale AONB with Leighton Moss thrown in for good measure was a real treat,the walks in the woods and limestone pavements always live up to expectations here's some of the fungi that we came across.
Jelly Ear,  Turkey Tail,  Scarlet Elf Cup,  and Exidia Plana.



Saturday 3 March 2012

Satellite !

The sky at night seems to be the thing at the moment with Cain (Holywell Birding ) putting up his star trails and laser shows and more than a passing interest being shown by Sedgedunum Warbler wanting to know f stops and speeds,so I have decided to put up my own Satellite a lively little thing just wouldn't stay still for a good photo (,looks like you might have trouble tracking this lads !!).