swanning about

Look at me aren't I Gorgeous

1/8000 @ f8, ISO 400, 400mm

Birds at Watermead Park

We went for a trip round Watermead on thursday and found I could get the Trike through all the gates I was worried about. It attracted a lot of attention as well, luckily it has the website for them written on the frame. I don't mind the free advertising, they are a good company to deal with.

There were a number of young waterbirds about, some playing, others demanding food, all being closely watched by the parent birds. Like this cygnet. Its mother was just out of shot and the father was with its siblings.

1/2000 @ f6.3, iso 200, 400mm

No young here, just a Great Crested Grebe performing its ablutions, it's hard to tell which way is up with this one.

1/2656 @ f6.3, iso 200, 400mm

Another male Mute Swan was keeping a close eye on Skipper as he went past. No need to worry though, Skipper kept as far away from him and his young as was possible without falling into the lake on the other side of the path.

1/2656 @ f6.3, iso 200, 400mm

A fly past from a group of Mallards was a distraction for a while. They went round skimming the water surface three times.

1/4000 @ f6.3, iso 400, 180mm

The star of the afternoon was this young Heron. He was fishing on a small weir where the river Soar leaves the canal and turns towards Wanlip. He was no more than eight feet from me and in full view, as was I, but he made no move to leave. The camera didn't bother him, he just carried on fishing.

1/800 @ f6.3, iso 400, 400mm

1/500 @ f6.3, iso 400, 400mm

1/1328 @ f6.3, iso 400, 400mm

We were returning to the car park when this Mallard chick came towards us obviously expecting to be fed, and when we didn't feed her she started rolling and washing herself. 

1/500 @ f6.3, iso 400, 400mm

Seeing the Mallard chick, these two Canada Goslings dragged their parent across for a free feed only to be disappointed.

1/1328 @ f6.3, iso 400, 400mm

Then it was like rush hour, the Coot chick tried his luck.

1/800 @ f6.3, iso 400, 400mm

As did another Gosling.

1/1600 @ f6.3, iso 400, 400mm

It was good to be photographing birds again, I thought they had all left Leicestershire.

All taken on a Canon EOS 7d, and EF 100 - 400mm L series Lens

A cold day at Watermead Park

With the help of my new mobility scooter, we decided to spend a couple of hours at Watermead Park. The day started sunny, but as soon as we were ready the clouds came in and hid the sun. Other than the usual common fayre there were few birds about, Mallards, Swans, Coots etc.

The Mute Swans were on a still lake, with perfect reflections, until they saw us and decided we might be a source of food. So the reflections I managed to take are a bit ruffled in places.

1/640 @ f6.3, iso 3200, 275mm

1/500 @ f6.3, iso 3200, 400mm

We nearly missed the Heron hiding in a bush, but he sat and posed for my camera. We haven't seen a Heron for some months, so we were surprised to see him.

1/125 @ f6.3, iso 1600, 400mm

1/100 @ f6.3, iso 1600, 400mm

1/500 @ f6.3, iso 500, 400mm

All pictures taken on a

Canon EOS 7d and EF 100 - 400mm L series Lens

A tale of two waters - 28 May 2013

A wet day yesterday and we set off for Swithland woods, on the way while driving across the Cropston reservoir dam I saw a twitcher looking intently through his scope at the waters edge.

We stopped and asked if there was anything interesting, he pointed down and said "there's a Sanderling!"
When I looked over the camouflage of the Sanderling was so well matched to the rocks of the dam that the first thing I saw was a Pied Wagtail with a beak full of nesting material.

1/200 @ f10, iso 800, 400mm

Then the Sanderling moved and I saw it, this is a rare bird so far inland, Leicestershire is in the middle of England and many miles from the nearest sea, where Sanderlings are normally found.

1/320 @ f10, iso 800, 400mm

He seemed quite happy hopping along the waterline collecting insects. But I suppose it was the recent strong winds that brought him here.

1/320 @ f10, iso 800, 400mm

We drove on to the woods but it was so dark we decided to go to Swithland reservoir instead.

1/100 @ f10, iso 800, 370mm

The first thing we saw over the fence was the cygnets (below) and a family of mallard chicks. The Mallard mother didn't trust us though and took her babies away into the reeds.

1/160 @ f10, iso 800, 100mm

The Mute Swans weren't concerned about us and continued to snooze.

1/250 @ f10, iso 800, 330mm

The Cob did see off some mallards that got too close to his babies though, so he was observant even while resting.

1/80 @ f10, iso 800, 200mm

The Pen didn't raise her head though, she must have been tired from looking after her babies.

1/200 @ f10, iso 800, 200mm

All taken on a 

Canon EOS 7d, EF 100 - 400mm 'L' series lens.

A final note as this blog approaches its 10.000th visitor, thanks to all who have supported it so far and please tell your friends.

A Couple of common birds 5 October 2012

There's still not much in the way of variety around, but here are a couple of birds I took the other day.

Canon EOS 7d, EF 100 - 400mm L lens
1/1000 @ f6.3, iso 800, 400mm

This one looks unusual, but a close look reveals it is a Mallard hybrid. The amount of different mallard Hybrids I see they must be the most promiscuous of birds.

Canon EOS 7d, EF 100 - 400mm L lens
1/2656 @ f6.3, iso 400, 100mm

I always like to see a Mute Swan at full sail, this one was trying to scare off the other birds from food that some children were throwing for them.

Livelier time at Thornton - 7 August 2012

I haven't been to Thornton for a while, not since the water was well down. After all the rain recently the reservoir is back up to normal levels and the bird life, albeit common species, is collected around the car park area. This seems like a trend, at Watermead park, there is a crowd of birds at the southern end car park. Maybe they're all collecting in areas where they get fed, strangely their seems to be less blue/green algae in these areas as well.

Canon EOS 7d, EF 100 - 400mm L Lens
1/1600 @ 6.3, iso 800, 170mm

Someone throwing bread close by attracted the attention of a number of birds, but this coot was quickest off the starting blocks.

Next a CUTE ALERT!

I liked the unusual colours on this one, 

it stood out from its darker siblings.

Canon EOS 7d, EF 100 - 400mm L Lens
1/1328 @ 6.3, iso 800, 400mm

A Mallard, with a late brood of seven chicks, got mixed in with the general melee for food, and her chicks had to move quickly to avoid being hit by the bigger birds.

Canon EOS 7d, EF 100 - 400mm L Lens
1/500 @ 6.3, iso 800, 370mm

The mother of the chicks, probably feeling guilty for leaving them to fend for themselves, had a bit of a set to with another mallard when she got too close to her babies. The mother is the darker bird on the right of the picture.

Canon EOS 7d, EF 100 - 400mm L Lens
1/3200 @ 6.3, iso 800, 235mm

One late brood that had no problems were the four cygnets of the Mute Swan, no-one seemed to knock them about. The father chased off a group of domestic geese, just because they were white.

Canon EOS 7d, EF 100 - 400mm L Lens
1/400 @ 6.3, iso 800, 370mm

Something I have learned over the years is always keep watch behind you (eyes in the back of your head would be useful), I turned from the feeding frenzy to see this Dunnock feeding on the crumbs dropped by the bread throwers.