Grebes, Goosanders and Gadwall

Really beautiful light for the Grebes early on Monday morning at Stanwick Lakes. Great to see a pair of Goosanders on the lake at Stanwick with the Grebes. They were a bit distance when they decided to fly as were the Gadwalls and Grebe eating a Perch.

Sunrise in the Nene Valley

I was out early on Sunday to witness the sunrise through the mists in the Nene Valley - a magical experience shared with a Great Crested Grebe pair, Geese, Swans and a Grey Heron. The landscape panorama (23mm lens) and the telephoto closeup (400mm) were taken at the same time and show different aspects of the lighting.

Summer Leys - Great Crested Grbes

One of the targets for our RPS trip to the Nene valley reserves was to photograph Great Crested Grebes, hopefully displaying but also to admire their wonderful breeding plumage. These are from Summer Leys reserve and from another site along the River Nene where a pair were already busy nest building.

 

Birds From Summer Leys

The weather was not great yesterday for our visit to Summer Leys but we did manage to pick out and photograph a few of the many species that live there: Widgeon, Shoveller, Redshank, Lapwing, Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Brambling, Reed Bunting and Long-Tailed Tit with very large feather.

 

Lakenheath Landscapes, Robin and Rats

A final few from our visit to Lakenheath RSPB reserve last week. I always enjoy the wide open vistas - hard to believe it was Poplar woodland (Bryant and May matches) and carrot fields when we first visited in the 1970s. The young rats in final image were intriguing in the way they wrapped themselves around the bird feeder.

St Albans Nest Building Underway

I called in at the park in St Albans on my way back from talking in Tring the night before. Great to talk to a 'live' audience. The sun had just come above the trees giving beautiful but harsh light on the incoming Grey Heron as it went back and forth bringing twigs to the nest site. Only this one Heron was evident - hopefully there are others. The clouds then came up so the light was poor for the Magpie collecting nest material and the Coot guarding its nest site from a passing Moorhen.