Dependable wetlands

A fine day appeared and considering the weather lately it was decided to attempt the wetlands if there were no floods en route. The sun shone and there were no hold ups. So lunch was taken and then I went for my walk. Plenty to see if you could spot them in the reed beds. There were  several shelducks looking for parteners.

Lapwings were in abundance. This was the only one that didn't seem to have a partener.

Shovelers were present. This male spent most of his time chasing off the gulls.

This tufted duck couldn't find a partener and spent most of his time wandering around looking very sorry for himself. I finished the day with a red kite but by then the light had gone and the pictures wre not up to my standard.

Lunch at the Wetlands

 A lovely sunny day too good to miss, lunch at the Wetlands was the order of the day. As we were eating our sausage and mash our new friend turned up. I still had the problem of shooting through a double-glazed window which is in need of cleaning. But I managed to salvage one good shot before it flew off to do some fishing.

 Of course the robin appeared loking for its mealworms which it seems to associate with me.

While close by a shelduck watched wondering what all the fuss was about.

Wetlands trip

 After my success of late I took Jacque down to the Wetlands for lunch and of course my camera came as well. About 2 months ago I had a robin following me round the lake and I wrote of his memory as he had done it before. Well there he was again waiting for his mealworms which he duly received. Thats the 3rd time this has happened, must have a good memory.

Things are looking up, this egret stood outside the window while we had lunch. This shot was taken through a double glazed window.

The highlight of the day was the arrival of a kingfisher. Not a good shot as it was about 20m away and through the same window. It was improved with a little bit of help from photoshop. We ate our lunch all the time this was going on.

Red kites

I spent many years photographing red kites in Wales with the help of Eithel Powell a very good friend. I visited him several times a year. I had the freedom of his farm which gave me a golden opportunity to photograph wildlife. I saw the kites which he fed on a regular basis grow in number from a few strays to about 1000 on a good day.

He also had an area where injured and sick birds could be cared for until fit for release. I saw the above bird mantling a piece of meat and not making any attempt to eat. I decided to check and as I approached it I realised something was wrong. I picked it up and tucked under my jacket and to my surprise it snuggled down quite happily. It was pouring with rain and the bird was cold and soaking wet. It remained under my coat for about 20mins while I carried it to the shelter. Kites are intellegent birds and it must have felt safe and secure. It was released a couple of days later.

Photography was good and kites were always present and happy to be photographed.

Plenty of opertunities for action shots.

The origonal picture before it was cropped had around 700 kites in it and this was the average seen when feeding. I have discovered red kites where I live in Sussex not 3 miles from my home and they can be seen in the air over my house so you can expect to see more of them on my posts.

My first of the year

Slow start to the year because of the weather mostly. When I go out with the camera I need to find somewhere warm and comfortable which of course at this time of the year is almost impossible. Today seemed a good day to visit the Wetlands and see what I could get over a cup of coffee or even lunch.

Among the sightings were, kingfisher x 2, dabchick, egret, goldcrest, firecrest, the small birds were flitting about in the bushes and in poor light I couldn't get any shots, the kingfishers were too quick for me(both in flight) so I had to settle for a display by the grey lag geese.
Better luck next time. I enjoyed my lunch though.