West Stowe Country Park

We took a walk round West Stowe Country Park yesterday in very dull lighting. The Greylag and Canada geese entertained us; I was interested how similar the plumage was between the two species. The area of the bird feeders was very dark so the shutterspeeds were slow and ISO high. One Bluetit had a very interesting eye abnormality. Great to see Coal and Marsh tits together.

Visit to Welney

Since our last visit in November (https://pin-sharp.blogspot.com/2019/11/welney-floods.html), the floods did recede for a short while but all the recent rain has filled the Ouse Washes levels even higher so there is now no shallow water for dabbling ducks and waders. It was mainly Pochard plus Tufted ducks on the main area plus Grey-lag Geese flying in and out periodically.

We had Meredith with us and she had great fun identifying all the birds and then great delight in dissecting some Owl Pellets in the activity room.

Welney Floods

With water stretching the entire area between the two Bedford Rivers and covering all the paths, the water birds had an enormous area to occupy. Not so good for Waders and perches were almost lacking for Gulls, Cormorants and Birds of Prey. A Cetti's Warbler was happy foraging in the old Teasels sticking out of the water

 

Birds on West Kirby Marine Lake

On Wednesday morning, we visited West Kirby in bright clear sunlight and were entertained by  Brent Geese, several cormorants and many Gulls on the Marine Lake. The patterns of the reflections and the Brent's plumage kept me entertained for a long while.