Slimbridge

8th December
Stayed with Joyce's sister in Cam which just happens to be a stones throw from Slimbridge WWT, so while they go shopping for the day I head down there where I largely ignore the collections of wildfowl and see what shows  up in front of the hides. Always good to see the Bewicks Swans and other wild duck at close quarters, and now you have the Common Cranes which form part of the Great Crane Project which aims to restore a healthy population of these iconic birds throughout the U.K. A rather gloomy morning but brightened up a little in the afternoon.

Bewicks Swan preening

Bewicks Swans, adult and juvenile

Bewicks flyover

Bewicks Swan

Bewicks Swan

Pintail- bottoms up.

Pintail male

Pintail pair

Pintail male

Pintail male late afternoon

Pintail male

Pintail close up

Female Teal

Male Teal

Shelduck bathing

Shelduck bathing

Shelduck bathing

Shelduck wing stretch

Incoming Greylag

Greylags

Common Cranes

Common Cranes

Common Cranes

Desert Wheatear

1st December 2016.
Good to catch up with this cracking male Desert Wheatear at Thurlestone beach in South Devon, only the second I've seen. ( the first being at Looe in Cornwall in dec 1997). This one was very confiding, favouring an area on the beach with a small boat which it used as a perch.

Thurleston beach, a bit like a desert I suppose!

The Wheatear came within feet allowing for a few close ups.

Desert Wheatear

Desert Wheatear

The Desert Wheatear spent some time on the boat preening

As did this Rock Pipit.

Frosty morning

We don't get too many real frosts in this part of the world , so I managed too get a little bit of time to get out with the camera in brief cold couple of days recently. Taken  in the garden and field.

Frosted Web

Frosted Web

Frosty Honeysuckle

Pembrokeshire

A few days with the family on the Pembrokeshire coast, staying near Nevern, an area I'd not visited before ,and a very nice area too, and good for a variety of  wildlife ( although the weather was windy and quite cold).

Dinas Head.

Dipper at Nevern

Otter on the river at Nevern, great to watch and I was all set up but would it stop fishing and plunging around in the water and just look up for a second or two?

Fungi and Fern

Cherry Oak Galls

Fallen Leaves

Thrushes

Hundreds of Redwings  and a few Fieldfares have joined the more usual Blackbird, Song Thrushes and Mistle Thrushes to take advantage of the glut of Berries in our garden and around the village .

Blackbird

Song Thrush

Mistle Thrush

Fieldfare

Redwing

Long Tailed Duck

31st October
I found this juvenile Long Tailed Duck at Roadford Lake in Devon a week earlier ,when I'd taken a few record shots at distance and in poor light, this day though was bright and sunny with some lovely autumn colours reflecting on the water. I used good old fashioned field craft to get as close to the bird as I could without disturbing it ( or the other ducks present).

Juvenile Long Tailed Duck

Somerset Levels

25th October..A great day out on the Somerset Levels , hoping to see Bearded Tits, a species I'd had brief views of a few times but never seen well and never photographed. Our luck was in, as soon after arrival we were treated to brilliant close up views of both male and females coming down to the path to feed on seed and grit which had been put down for them, ( they take grit as an aid to digestion in the autumn when their diet changes from insectivorous to seeds).We also had my best ever view of Bitterns , with at least two right in front of the hide, but photography was still not great as they either stayed partly obscured by the reeds or when one did come right out into the open was directly in front of the bright low sun, but still brilliant to watch .With Great White Egrets and Kingfisher as well a good day all round.

Female Bearded Tit

Male Bearded Tit -an exotic looking bird.

Bittern Take off

Typical view of a Bittern

Bittern silhouette

Kingfisher

Lapwing and Common Snipe

Great White Egret

Great White Egret