Aqualate Mere - 14 Mar 17

A few images from Aqualate Mere today.

These two drake Mallards were having a real dust-up. I thought that they were locking bills but the camera reveals they were in fact trying to grab each others breasts, perhaps explaining why one of them looks rather blotchy.

This looks like feathers are being pulled out.

After the first stage they then started thrashing in the water.

And what a splash.

Look at the bill of the bird on the left: I assume this is his tongue sticking out and not a split lower mandible. Do birds have tongues? I guess they do.

Back to attacking each other.

(Ed Wilson)

Venus Pool - 9 Mar 17

The fine and sunny weather today tempted me to Venus Pool where some of the highlights were:

How close can you get? Canada Goose of course.

Always a favourite, especially when lit like this. A drake Gadwall.

And his intended: I know the flanks look blurred, but they only look blurred.

One of the 12 Curlews present today (Wigeon asleep in the foreground).

And a trio of Curlews (at least one of the drake Wigeon is awake now).

With the 5 Curlews there are drake Teal, drake Shoveler and a Moorhen. Two partially hidden ducks are likely duck Teal.

A rather scruffy Blue Tit. Note the long toes.

A female Blackbird. In close-up like this we see the pale fringes to the feathers and see why they are sometimes confused with Song Thrush. A tip for separation is that if in doubt it isn’t a Song Thrush. Seriously: a female Blackbird shows pale spots on a dark background; a Song Thrush black spots on a brown background.

Another angle.

A male Chaffinch showing all its intricate colouration. If it were rare it would be much more appreciated.

A female Chaffinch eating a seed. Her colouration is quite subtle.

A male Brambling: the head will go jet black in a few weeks time as the pale tips wear away and he acquires smart full breeding plumage.

Another angle.

And from the back: the dark around the eye is the easiest way to separate the sexes from this angle. The female would look greyer on the head though that depends whether you are familiar with the tones.

Compare and contrast: female in front of the male.

And compare and contrast those rear views, female in front.

Male and female Brambling and male and female Chaffinch.

Naughty male Bullfinch – eating the buds of the Blackthorn.

And the flowers. The abundance of the flowers and the sun tempted some insects and managed a few shots.

My first butterfly of the year – a Peacock. Likely hibernated as an adult in the UK [later a Brimstone flew by].

A Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapdarius).

This looks to me like a Honey Bee sp. (but I do not have any detailed literature on this group).

This was my first hoverfly of the year: The markings are reminiscent of Epistrophe eligans though the date is a bit early. I had an expert check this photo as the structure looked more like an Eristalis and he agreed: too early for E. eligans and almost certainly Eristalis tenax.

Not sure about this little critter: it almost looks wasp-waisted but is hairy like a bee.

(Ed Wilson)

Aqualate Mere - 10 Mar 17

Today I paid a short visit to the hide at Aqualate Mere. Rather quiet overall but a few things to keep the camera busy

A drake Mallard takes a bath!

And starts to preen.

All dried-out but still a bit of final re-arranging of the feathers for that ‘perfect’ look. Note the nictating membrane – an extra eye-lid – is closed giving it a white eyed appearance. Note too that the brown breast has a few blotchy feathers so perhaps it is not quite a full adult?

This duck Mallard has also been preening. Note here the spread tail – not often you get the chance to see these markings. The white-edged blue speculum is also well-shown. Note the bill-pattern and how it differs from the plain greeny-yellow of the drake.

This shot of a flying Grey Heron shows the large feet very well. Very occasionally in Spring we see a vagrant Purple Heron: on that species the feet are noticeably even larger and very obvious in flight even if the plumage tones cannot be detected. Under the belly we see a few ‘aigrettes’ – the breeding condition plumes. The bill-colour also tells us this is a breeding condition bird.

An immature Cormorant.

Here it is after diving. I assume that its partially submerged appearance is because it is very wet.

A Coot preening. Not often you can see the yellow spot at the top of the leg of this species.

I’ve said it before and will no doubt say it again: “aren’t feathers amazing?” And what a sweetie?

A male Reed Bunting in close-up. Still some pale tips in the dark hood so not in full breeding plumage.

A different male Reed Bunting – a rather more blotchy individual.

Another view.

(Ed Wilson)

Venus Pool - 2 Mar 17

A few images from Venus Pool today.

A visit to the excellent SOS Reserve at Venus Pool. As I have noted previously, in the afternoons the sun is behind you in the (free public) hides and it provides excellent viewing. Today it was rather dull for a while but later this dramatic lighting.

A pair(?) of Mute Swans dwarf a Black-headed Gull (Shoveler in the left background).

Territorial dispute amongst the Mute Swans (more Shoveler in the background).

A cygnet (1st year) bird in flight showing extensive retained grey plumage (“Gee: I am not (yet) a Swan!” – with apologies to Hans Christian Andersen).

The Canada Geese were also fighting: I assume this is two males being watched / egged-on my two female (or is that not a PC explanation these days?).

A great view of a duck Teal in its stunning breeding plumage.

You have to look closely to realise there are only 4 drake and 2 duck Teal here.

A flying drake Shoveler: still a hint of eclipse / immature plumage with a pale are between the bill and the bottle-green head (a full breeding-plumaged drake behind).

These two drake Shoveler seem to be talking (or sticking their tongues out).

Fine reflection here: this drake Shoveler looks rather aggressively surprised.

We’d better keep the sexual balance and show a duck Shoveler as well.

This drake Shoveler still aspiring to acquire breeding plumage.

It must be quite hard to preen with that strange-shaped bill: here we see part of the pale blue-grey forewing exposed – it is much more ‘blue’ in drakes.

A pair doing their usual thing – spinning around to stir up the mud from the bottom which they then filter with those bills.

And if the light is right the drakes head really glosses in the sun.

Many people think of Moorhens as black: in reality they are two different shades of dark grey-brown and the back can show a greenish tinge.

I find flying Lapwing very hard to capture: this is one of my better efforts.

The Snipe were rather obliging today. Later some were out in the open but this shot in the shade accentuates the normally hard-to-see rufous in the tail.

Excellent angle to capture some of the intricate plumage.

And again: it seems to me that the large dark feathers with pale edging and sub-edging should be covered by the feathers above them which are perhaps still regrowing after a moult. Certainly on this bird the pale ‘tram lines’ along the back do not look that well-defined.

On this bird these feathers are nowhere nearly so prominent.

It really is a long bill! Looks like this bird needs a handkerchief.

Look bill all gone! They can open the end of the bill while it is buried in soft ground to grab morsels.

Another view of that intricate plumage.

A gang. Note that in detail the plumage of these birds is somewhat different.

A pleasant surprise was at least a dozen Curlew commuting from the reserve to nearby grasslands to feed.

Here is one doing its commute.

And another.

With another landing back.

Must be Spring! A Blue Tit amongst the Blackthorn blossom.

Some birds are easiest to photograph on feeders: here a Long-tailed Tit shares the space with a (ringed) Great Tit.

A close-up and rather startling view of a male Blackbird. Usually difficult to see the individual feathers like this.

Fieldfare are surprisingly colourful when seen well and, as here, in breeding plumage (sorry about the barbed wire).

A handsome species.

This female Chaffinch is perched on one leg for some reason.

This female is on both feet on the same perch: not this same bird I think.

A male Chaffinch perches on both legs.

Makes my neck ache to look at it.

This male Chaffinch has the white legs and feet showing infection by chaffinch viral papilloma. This is not especially contagious and spread only through cuts to the feet. It seems not to affect other finch species and is more a nuisance and irritation than likely to make the bird unwell or to die prematurely.

One of my wanted birds from my visit was Brambling. These were rather shy and rarely came in to the open. Here we see a female on a brief foray to feed on spilt seeds (with a male Chaffinch and a Dunnock).

A female Greenfinch shares the feeding with two male Chaffinches, neither showing any sign of chaffinch viral papilloma.

A fine portrait of a male Yellowhammer under the feeders. This species is far from common at feeders so a welcome find.

Rabbits show the red on the nape. This feature is not often mentioned in the literature with the description usually a ‘grey-brown with a white underside to the tail’.

(Ed Wilson)