Welney Morning Birds

We spent the rest of Sunday morning (after a breakfast in the cafe!!), general bird watching and 'snapping' on the main reserve so here a flavour of the session and including Cattle Egret and ?Chiffchaff (a pair were flitting in the bushes - presumably overwintered in UK).

Stanwick Lakes - Where Were All the Birds?

 The very high water levels in the Lakes and the river Nene resulted in a lot fewer birds than previous visits. Coupled with overcast skies and strong winds meant we had a pretty sparse day as regards subjects to photograph though the feeders produced good opportunities including Muntjac deer.

. However, the group enjoyed a long walk round the reserve and a warming drink/lunch in the visitor centre

Water Birds at Summer Leys

Some of the birds that we photographed at Summer Leys yesterday afternoon when the weather improved to give occasional sunny intervals but still with rain showers.

Summer Leys Birds at the Feeders

Despite the rain and poor light, our RPS Nature Group managed to photograph a wide variety of passerines on the feeders. Good to see about 6 Bullfinches among the other finches.

Bradgate Park in the Rain

The forecast was for thundery showers in Leicestershire on Sunday morning but, undeterred, 6 RPS members met up around dawn to visit Bradgate Park. We didn't get the thunderstorms, just torrential rain with occasional 'drier' interludes when we could move on from one tree shelter to the next until the afternoon. Challenging conditions with obviously low light; the first shot was at 1/30th second handheld! The Grey heron was even grumpier than last year in the snow and it is amazing what other 'hobbyist' do in the rain - I am surprised they risked electric cars in the rain (my telephoto lens proved not to withstand such extreme conditions and is residing in a bag of rice at the moment - hopefully drying out)