First outing

Today was my first outing of 2011 and although dull we had a pretty good afternoon.

The only down side was that the lakes where frozen over, the 1st picture is one of the lakes from the Marshall Hide, the smallish birds dotted around where Teal, we also spotted along the patches of land Wigeon, Goosander, Heron, Shoveller and Mallard.

The next couple of shots where taken from the hide behind the reserve shop, it is a Reed Bunting, just as I got to the small viewing holes I spotted this bird away from the feeding station and sat on a small twig so I grabbed a few shots before it flew off.

And finally this Robin appeared to be following us around the reserve so I just couldn't leave without a shot, I was actually surprised by the amount of Robins that we saw, they where everywhere.

All photos taken with a Nikon D70 + Sigma 170-500mm

Other birds we saw, but where too far away for a photo where: Buzzard, Brambling, Siskin, Blue, Long tailed & Great Tits, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Wood Pigeon, Bull Finch.

So all in all for a dullish afternoon it was pretty good going.

Hope you liked the shots.

Mike.

Early morning walk

Something I have wanted to do for a while now is get up early and get out walking.

This morning I did just that, although when I say early I am only talking 7 am which for me on a Sunday is not only early its unheard of :)

The plan was to head for Mere Sands Wood first which was unfortunately locked up, so we headed to Marshside (RSPB site) , the following where taken at Marshside and are things which caught my eye.


And finally from Marshside a bird, that's right I know its been a while, this Wren came in close along the path between hides, which made the early start worthwhile.

Also seen at Marshside this morning where 8 Snipe, 4 Wigeon, 12 Golden Plover, 80+ Godwit all out of camera range.

The final shot was from Mere Sands and just stood out, birds seen here where 4 Nuthatch (all together), Various Warblers and your usual Tits and Chaffinch.

Photos taken with Nikon D70 + Sigma 170-500mm

It realy is the best time of day to be out and I can fully understand why people do it daily.

Hope you liked the pics.

Mike

Mere Sands Wood

I managed to get out again after all on Saturday evening, making the most of what turned out to be a great day, weather wise the sun was out all day and right into the evening.

So I thought I would show you all Mere Sands Wood, I have posted lots of bird pics from here before, but with great evening light I wanted to show you what a great place this is.

Mere Sands is about 10 mins from Martin Mere WWT reserve and about 20 mins in the car from my house and part of what I call my local patches, although not on my doorstep like I wish they where.

So here are the pics I took and hope that I have managed to capture the place for you.

All photos taken with Nikon D70 + Nikkor 28-100mm

The final pic is a young Coot which came in real close and let me take a few shots. It still surprises me that there aren't more fish eating birds around the place because you can see lots of fish from the hides scooping insects off the surface of the lakes.

All photos taken with Nikon D70 + Sigma 170-500mm

Mere Sands is a very peacefull place and somewhere worth visiting after a stressfull day in work, it really helps you unwind.

Mike.

Mere Sands Wood - Pt2

So for part two of my Mere Sands Wood visit I wanted to show some of the variety of birds that are present around the reserve.

1st shot is a Greenfinch, quite common really but still stunning to see, 2nd again is a Dunnock and also really common to gardens and 3rd is a Chaffinch which are pretty much everywhere.

Not so common is a Tree Sparrow shown in the next shot, followed by a Juv Robin which I find to be just stunning.

Finally this was my shot of the day, I have heard these birds many times before, but never been lucky enough to photograph one, its a Reed Warbler.

A pretty good afternoon out.

All shots taken 13/07/2008.

Mere Sands Wood - Pt 1

The first post of my visit to Mere Sands is just going to give a better idea to anyone who may not have visited there of what it's like.

As you will see from the first two shots water and trees perfect, actually it's made up of 4 lakes and surrounded by 7 hides all looking over a lake or part of one and plenty of reed beds.

The reeds you can see in the middle of the photo above are where I photographed the Grebes earlier in the year, you can see them HERE.

The next few shots are to show the diversity of things around the reserve.
I caught this dragonfly as it landed near the hide shown in the second photo, the reeds are quite overgrown there and made a perfect landing spot, I'm afraid someone will have to ID this for me, the photo after this is a Red Admiral Butterfly.

There are a great number of different species of birds on the reserve also from Coots like in the next shot to Herons shown in the last shot, I will show you a greater range of the garden type birds in my next post.

For now I hope you like the shots.

All photos taken 13/07/2008.