Chinese Visit !

A quick visit to the pond this afternoon opening the shutters I spotted this stunning male Mandarin quite a way off at first but slowly getting closer to within range of the 400mm,the light levels were quite good so the pics are a little better.not too many though as the ponds big bruiser saw him as a threat and moved him on.

 Other things of note 5 Goldeneye (no showy males) and a few flypasts by the local Kingfisher

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Three Kits a feeding !

A cold blustery snowy morning saw me heading for shelter in the key hide at Holywell,opening the window to the far left of the hide in anticipation of a little more shelter from the N/E wind, in the distance I could see 6 Goldeneye inc 2 stunning males,2 adult male Goosanders plus Wigeon and Gadwall .
The surface of the pond was quite rough with the wind as I heard a Grey Heron giving off its alarm call looking to my left I was taken by surprise to see three young Otters playing and feeding as they came past the front of the hide,I scrambled to get the camera out of the bag remove the lens cap and switch on ,this is the result.

 The above shows the three kits swimming away.

Morning at Gosforth

The weather early on Wednesday morning looked clear, no wind or rain, Gosforth Park was to be our destination looking for the Bitterns wellies were the order of the day on the well trodden muddy path to the hide.
First in the hide (that makes a change) opening the shutters slowly I could just make out a bittern to my right on a clump of reeds however it also saw/heard us and flew to another area of reeds,others were seen in flight leading us to  count three different birds,our patience was rewarded two and a half hours later when a bird dropped in the reeds close by, we watched the reeds moving for a short while before it came out on the opposite bank to the hide .

It didn't stay long before moving off into the reeds.

If I keep going long enough I might get some good light values for these pics !!!!

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Leighton Moss (part two)

It was down to the sea hides next with the Eric Morcambe hide being a particular favourite,once again reed cutting the previous day was going to have its effect but hundreds of Redshank hadn't been put off  here's one coming in to land.

A solitary Dunlin in with the Redshank wasn't the easiest bird to pick out

This next bird really takes the biscuit as being the most scruffiest bird I have put in front of my camera for a long time Water Rail perhaps!!

Moving off the bird scene there were lots of these guys flying around

And finally I have to put these up as being one of my favorite Fungi Shaggy Inkcap going in to meltdown

A close up of the above showing the caps going into meltdown I don't suppose there will be much left come tomorrow ?.

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Leighton Moss ( part one )

A few days over on the moss left a little to be desired with regards timing, water levels had been reduced and reed cutting was still in progress but you've just got to get on with it .
Lots of work has been done since my last visit and some new hides as well ,nice to watch the masses of Godwits from Lillians hide quite a spectacle when there all in the air here's one that came a little closer.

The new causeway hide gave me the best opportunity at the Great White Egret which has been around for some time,not always at this distance.

You can't walk along the causeway without stopping to try and catch a glimpse of Bearded Reedlings on the grit trays and try as I might I can't manage decent images this ones been heavily doctored

                                                                 

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Crap Weather

Arriving at Cresswell you could sense that we were in for a bad time with water levels as high as I have ever seen, rain, north winds and whipped up brown foam in front of the hide meant a hasty retreat was on the cards( without even opening the shutters ).
Off to Druridge pools next it can't be any worse than Cresswell or so we thought ,the only difference was there was no whipped up foam but we did open the shutters( only two tho) sightings matched the weather with 1 Black Tailed Godwit  and 1 Little Egret however the Otter came out to feed and kept us entertained for a good hour here's a couple of well cropped images from today.

                                     

 

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Holywells Pectoral

My morning visit to the pond was again productive with good views of the Pectoral Sandpiper along with 2 Ruff 2 Dunlin 4 Snipe and of course the elusive Water- Rail, water levels are good at the moment for waders here's a few pics of the Pectoral Sandpiper.

Sorry that this post is a bit late but I had issues with Windows 10 which didn't allow me to upload pics on Blogger pleased to say this issue has now been overcome .Nice to meet up with Brian and Sam (Killy Birder)and witness the eleven yes eleven Common Sandpipers piping on the fence .