Walmsley (again)

15th Febuary.
I spent a nice sunny afternoon at Walmsley CBWPS reserve watching the birdlife come and go and meeting one or two other people while I was there, nice to see the Spoonbill still here, although still fairly distant.

Spoonbill flying in

Spoonbill landing

Preening Spoonbill

Black Tailed Godwits

Greylag

Grey Heron on the lookout

 Grumpy Canada's

Mute Swans coming together

Introduction

Feeling a little frisky

Feeling a little bit more frisky

Getting excited

No stopping him now

Swan sex

A good wash to finish

The resident Mute Swan pair were getting rather frisky and I got a few nice shots of them courting and mating.

Roadford Lake

12th Febuary.
Roadford resevior is only a mile from home but can be very frustrating for seeing and photographing birds, as usually there just arn't to many present and the ones that are stay fairly distant or I,ve photographed them many times and I have to wait and watch for some kind of behaviour or interaction to get something a little different, but occasionally a scarce or rare bird does turn up so just have to keep hoping, this day was again quiet with just a couple of distant Great Crested Grebes and a close in Little Grebe  and a few of the usual Duck, and this Cormorant which was diving in front of the hide ( and just caught a stick)

Cormorant

Cormorant with stick!

Cormorant

He's off

Little Grebe

A Pochard swims by

Starlings

10th Febuary. The Starling roost at Roughtor is always a good way to round off a day, no dancing but still a treat to witness . ( And no one else there today-just me and Joyce)

Starlings coming in to roost

Sky full of Starlings

Lower Tamar Lake

4th Febuary
A very foggy three hours sat in the hide at Lower Tamar Lake on the Cornwall/Devon border, no one else about, a few birds to see including eight pairs of Goosander ( this is always a reliable site for these) but all a bit distant for photography , which was a shame as two males were fighting over a big  fish which would have made for some good shots, but there were some close Common Snipe and a Water Rail came very close as well as a Kingfisher putting in an appearance.

Common Snipe-not sure if its swimming or paddling

Common Snipe

Common Snipe preening

Common Snipe bathing

Common Snipe-Many birds take a little jump out of the water after bathing to dry off, I try to be ready for this.

Goosander in the mist

Kingfisher

Water Rail

Walmsley

28th January
Spent a few hours at Walmsley CBWPS near Wadebridge , the weather was not to bad for a change with some long periods of sunshine, Many of the birds were  fairly distant but still always something to look at , and the best bird here was a Spoonbill which was easy to pick out. Lots of wildfowl present including Gadwall.Shoveller,Wigeon,Mallard Tufted Duck, Pintail and Teal ( but no sign of the Green Winged Teal which has been around recently). Also a few waders, Curlew, Lapwing and a Ruff dropped in. I was able to get a few  record shots.

A gathering of Gadwall

Gadwall getting a bit frisky

Teal

Shoveller

Pintail

Pair of Mute Swans

Mute Swan take off

Spoonbill, pity it wasn't a bit closer though

Spoonbill with Little Egrets

Spoonbill landing

Little Grebe with snack 1

Little Grebe with snack 2

Buzzard over

Little Egret incoming

Little Egret

Little Egret with Stickleback

Curlew, One of many

Ruff