Woods and water

A pleasant few hours were whiled away at Blashford Lakes, Hampshire, outside the edge of the New Forest.

One part of the reserve is wooded.  That was where I started.

Nuthatch

Chaffinch

(Note that this adult has bumblefoot*)

* Bumblefoot (ulcerative pododermatitis) is a bacterial infection and inflammatory reaction on the feet of birds (and rodents).  The infection is much more likely to occur in captive animals than in those in the wild.

Dunnock

 

Great Tit

Blue Tit

Bullfinch

Rabbit

Time for a bite to eat and a drink from the convenient hot-drinks machine.  Then across the road to the lakeside.

Three Common Sandpiper rather stole the show by parading to and fro across the front of the hide as they hunted invertebrates.  There were other species, but I'm sticking with the Sandpiper here and will post the others next week.

When they hunt, they go down, down, down and then strike almost horizontally.

Patience

These images are the result of 2 half-days spent on Shapwick Heath, Somerset, with one bird  -  a Grey Heron.

Day 1

Danger lurks in the reeds

Monochrome seemed to suit the subject.  I've also cropped this last image to roughly 8x6 ratio to narrow the aspect.  (I normally crop to 6x4 or 5x5.)

There were two minor distractions.

Great Crested Grebe

White-lipped Banded Snail

Day 2

Is that something?

... and the distractions!

Mute Swan

Great Crested Grebe

Oh, and a female Marsh Harrier wandered past, but I was unprepared and didn't get any images worth publishing.  (Memo to self:  Must try harder.)

On neither day did I see the Heron catch anything.