Gillingham and Stourhead

On the 31st March 2012 I stayed at home in the conservatory and photographed some of the birds in the garden.

Goldfinch

Blue Tit

When this Collared Dove appeared, I went to an upstairs window to get the angle.

Fixating on the finial

Over there ...

Down there ...

... and the other way

The remaining images were taken over the course of a couple of visits to Stourhead just before Easter.

First, Canada Geese:
This pair seemed to be house-hunting on a smaller lake and away from the majority of their kind.

Here they are later, back on the main lake.

Ouch!  Sorry about the tail

A lonesome Coot:

The Mute Swan pair had started nesting and serious guard duties were now the order of the day.

Keeping an eye on some Tufties

Patrolling this way ...

... and that way

Meanwhile, a Mallard was chilling out.

When the staff at the entry-kiosk are not busy checking tickets and 'swiping' membership-cards, this is all they have to look at.  (Well, nearly all.)

Blue Tits

The staff do have security back-up:

Blackbird

To round up, here are some pictures of Wagtails.

Pied Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Grey Wagtail

Grey Wagtail

As far as the Grey Wagtails are concerned, I regard this as 'work in progress'.  They were twice the distance from me as the Pied and I'm after much better shots.  The two above were achieved only after a lot of post-shutter editing.

25th and 28th March 2012

The Robins I meet on my frequent walks round the gardens at Stourhead (National Trust), Wiltshire, are still as interactive as they were when I first introduced them to the skills of modelling for the camera late last year.  I lost only one in the coldest weather.  It wasn't too surprising because that particular one had a tick anchored into its throat.  It couldn't have been in tip-top condition.

Here are some of the images taken on 25th March 2012.

The local pair of Mute Swans was starting to nest.

Back in the woodland, a Coal Tit was darting about near a bench on which someone had left food.

This next image looks a little odd because the bird is not perching; it's just touching momentarily as it descends.

I thought that this magnolia bloom looked very attractive.

It was certainly attractive to several tiny insects that I've since cloned out of the image!

The remaining photographs were taken at RSPB Arne, Dorset.

Meadow Pipit catching some early sunshine on Coombe Heath

Linnet

 ... is this Linnet really about to do a high-wire walk across to the neighbouring piece of gorse?

Stonechat

As you can see, I couldn't get very near to any of these.

Firecrest had been showing in the car park and this species had been uppermost in my mind when I had planned the trip.  Three of us (all members of the Arne Community) staked out the location.  We were spotting for each other.  We did get glimpses of a Firecrest flitting to and fro, but only one of us managed to be at the right angle at the right moment to capture an appearance.  It was always just a bit too far round the trunk of a tree!  I had to settle for these images of a Nuthatch.

Avalon Marshes and Greylake 22nd March 2012

It seemed to have been a while since I'd visited the Somerset Levels, so off I went, bright and early.  I realised that, although I had been on the Levels this year, I'd hadn't been to Shapwick Heath since 2011.

I parked the car at Ashcott Crossing and set off on foot to Noah's Hide.

Before I reached my destination, I spotted this Great White Egret on the Mere Heath side of the track.

Although its legs are hidden in the water and any colour-rings are hidden (plus it was a bit far anyway), I suspect that it was probably the French-hatched bird that's made this area home for a little while now.

At last I reached Noah's Hide and settled in to see what came my way.

Cormorant on a mission

Mute Swan - just cruising

Great Crested Grebe out fishing ...

... and what the menu had to offer

The water was like this as far as the eye could see (into the water) and Pike were having a whale of a time (accidental pun) coming to the surface and hoovering them up.  Some of the Pike were quite large and, when they leapt out, the return to the water sounded as if someone had thrown a fridge in!

Greylag were swimming around in the same part of the lake as the Mute Swan.  I can see that there will be some sorting out to be done there when nest-building starts.

After my early, chilly start, I was beginning to feel hungry.  It was time to start back towards the car and drive round to Shapwick for some lunch at Eco-Friendly Bites - a facility that is not only eco-friendly, but also people-friendly ☺.

I was delayed on my way to the car by a rare sight.

L-R: Grey Heron, Little Egret, Great White Egret

I don't know how often you get to see this line-up, but a crowd of birders had gathered and passers-by were being lured into gazing through digiscopes.  There were some valiant attempts at photography, too.  The distance was at least 300m and I 'fastened together' all I'd got with me to achieve this mediocre shot with a focal-length of 840mm.

I have my own fantasy about the gap between the Grey Heron and the Little Egret.  I like to imagine it was reserved for the local Bittern that was busy booming further away in the reed-beds and so missed this photo-call.

Eventually, I did reach the car park, but not before almost tripping over this pair on their way to the water.

Toads

Lunch-break was a welcome respite.

Then down to the RSPB reserve at Greylake:

It was quiet there, but it always is in the middle of the day.  Early morning is far busier.

Wigeon in flight

A lonesome female Teal

The rest of my images are of a Little Grebe busy fishing.  It spent more time underwater than on the surface.

 

My favourite from the set (enlarged a little)