Get orf my land!

Darren alerted me to the presence of this dangerous predator in the garden this evening. While herons are beautiful birds, and I don't really mind them coming to the garden, I DO NOT want them eating our Great Crested Newts! That is unacceptable!

The current newt situation is that the male seems to have left (as is to be expected at this time of year) but another female has arrived to take his place. I'm learning about newts all the time: I can tell they're females from the orangey stripe which goes the length of their tail, on the underside.

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

[Leaving] North Wales: Day Six

Dipper territory, Betws-y-Coed

Grey Heron

Distant Woodchat Shrike, Long Eaton, Derbyshire

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 77 with 20x eyepiece

Sunday morning fishing on the River Nene

'Think there might be something tasty in here...'


'I'll take a closer look...'


'This is my river!'


'Now, where was I?'


'Success at last!'

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece

Ferry Meadows Country Park

A 'celebration' of the Black-headed Gull:









Gadwalls performing nicely on Lynch Lake






... and Tufted Ducks on Gunwade.


The best kind of red-eye (on a drake Pochard)


Grey Heron on the meadow of the same name


Woodpigeon dozing in an oak tree




Lesser Redpolls eating seeds (rosebay willowherb, I think)


Autumnal leaves... in winter




Goldfinch fodder

digiscoped photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece

Ferry Meadows birds

Feeding time for baby Swallows! It was all a bit fast for me





That's some primary projection...

Grey Heron on Gunwade Lake

Coot on a backwater

Ferry Meadows on a sunny bank holiday weekend is a busy place to be, but there were a few birds around nevertheless. I decided to seek out somewhere more peaceful...

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece

Ferry Meadows

I have been hoping to get some good photos of Gadwall for a little while now. Lynch Lake at Ferry Meadows is the best place in the area for this... The birds feed close to the shore and though they initially swim away from you, they soon come back again!

Coot a la Tranter :o)

Round on the nature reserve, there were plenty of Teal (above) and Shoveler to have a go at. Unfortunately, both species spent most of their time either asleep or with their heads underwater.







A Grey Heron had its eye on some fish for elevenses. I accidentally got some action shots! There is a delay between my finger pressing the shutter and the camera taking the picture. This means lots of pictures that don't show quite what you had in mind. I wonder if I will ever succumb to the temptation that is DSLR?


I didn't notice the ripples of light reflecting from the water back onto the gull until I got home...



Sometimes you stop and wonder whether there is a god of digiscoping smiling down on you. This was very lucky indeed. The Song Thrush hopped up from beside the railway into a tree near where I was standing. It was a bit dark but I got the scope onto it anyway. Amazingly, it stayed while I got a handful of shots - which were in focus! This does not happen every day...

You can tell where the Bullfinches have been laying into the guelder rose berries...

And, in time for Christmas, a Robin.

digiscoped photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece

Back to earth at Ferry Meadows

After the morning's excitement, I went to Ferry Meadows again this afternoon. A bit stupid of me really, since it's so busy on sunny weekends.

Anyway, I enjoyed the walk and took some not-too-bad photos, and watched some interesting interaction between a Sedge Warbler and a Whitethroat. On the long walk round Gunwade Lake, there were plenty of fish-wielding Common Terns and some Pied Wagtails on the water's edge, plus one smart male Yellow Wagtail. But most definitely no White Wagtails.