Wicken Fen - To Camouflage or Not

 Our two visits to Wicken recently have been in bright sunny weather with wonderful reflections. I enjoyed photographing the various ducks and water birds - the female Shoveller is wonderfully camouflaged in the reeds while the males stand out more. In the Gadwall, both sexes are well camouflaged (male shown). Coots will be obvious wherever they are perhaps related to the fact they are very territorial. Last two photos are of the noisiest species present during our water watching - the Little Grebes who were calling continuously and doing quite a lot of fighting and displays.

The Great Fen Project and Clever Gadwalls

The Great Fen is a habitat restoration project in Cambridgeshire. It is one of the largest restoration projects in the country, and aims to create a 3,700 hectare wetland connecting Woodwalton Fen National Nature Reserve (NNR), Holme Fen NNR and other nature reserves to create a very large conservation site. We had intended visiting last year but somehow the months went by so we were determined to make it in 2016. Woodwalton Fen has a sixeable population of Bittern and also Harriers and Red Kites. We only saw Buzzards in the air but were fortunate to glimpse 2 Bitterns. A return visit definitely on the books.

While waiting for bittern action, I spent time observing the Gadwall ducks - an unusually large number present on a deep Mere (they are dabbling ducks). They were pursuing Coots especially when they dived for food. I researched this on the internet and found a large amount of literature on Kleptoparasitism in Gadwalls. This learned behaviour of pirating food off Coots is thought to be responsible for the large increase in Gadwall numbers in the UK.

Birds at Kew Gardens

I took advantage of a sunny afternoon when I arrived in Richmond to give a  talk toRichmond and Twickenham club in the evening and visited Kew Gardens. First some birds around the Lake. Coots as always were the dominant bird chasing off all other species including the Canada Geese. The reflection of the sky and trees on the water added to the fun for the afternoon. Flowers and general scenes to follow.

Squabbling Coots

A selection of images from a morning spent with squabbling coots. They really go for each other but there are no apparent signs of injury at this stage in the season. The bright sunshine helped with the shutterspeed and ISO but did give problems with contrast on such dark birds

Coot Aggression

 The coots continually scrapped during our time at St Albans Veralim Park today. The light was very poor but managed a few interesting shots. It often appeared to be the eternal triangle situation. I wonder if they actually drown their opponent ever.

St Albans Heronry

As I was passing St Albans on the way to Bath , I thought I would have a second attempt to locate the Heronry having been thwarted by heavy Saturday traffic last time. The light was not good and the Herons were not doing a lot but did manage the classic Heron with twig shot. The last Heron shot was taken with the camera on live view - it gave a very sharp image of the static Heron. The Coots were fairly quiet as well - this couple gave a good display of aggression.

Rye Meads

I visited Rye Meads RSPB REserve today. After early rain, the sun broke through and gave lovely lighting on the Tufted Ducks, Teal, Green Sandpiper and Little Grebes.


The Tufted Ducks demonstrated how synchromised diving should be done. The action shots of Grebe displaying, Shoveller taking off and Coot aggression didn't quite work but enjoyed trying the shots.