Another visit to the Shropshire Ornithological Society (SOS) Reserve at Venus Pool. Very misty and foggy for part of the visit. All photos taken from public accessible hides and areas.
A drake Shoveler. Quite why it was holding one wing at such a strange angle I have no idea. Did not notice it at the time and did not impede it.
Little Grebe are well-named: compare the size with a drake Mallard.
Very much in to breeding plumage with a very obvious white – even yellow – mark at the base of the bill.
Another view.
A Common Snipe. I have never seen so many as there were today.
The accepted collective noun is a “wisp of Snipe”. Seems it should be a “huddle”. Nine birds here.
(At least) 12 here. The back-right bird is showing the orange-brown in the tail as it stretches.
Of course a Blue Tit. This one has been ringed too, so it is not just at Belvide.
This one looking for inspiration.
A Great Tit showing the edging to the feathers. What we cannot see here are the outer tail feathers which have white edges – the tail is held closed here.
The back of olive-green.
The trickiest tit to photo. As bottom of the pecking order it is usually a quick in-and-out to the feeders. This one paused to ‘case the joint’.
Long-enough for a couple of shots. Note the buff tone in the shoulder. This bird is somewhat whiter beneath and greyer on the back than the books illustrate for the British race and I am wondering whether this is a Continental migrant.
Here we see the grey back clearly. Also note the white nape patch – looks twisted here because the bird has turned it head.
Long-tailed Tits are not really tits at all, being more closely related to babblers of Asia.
This one won’t win any prizes for neat appearance. Even the tail looks a bit ragged.
A splendid Dunnock. This bird shows unusually obvious white tips to the greater coverts.
Another Robin included here because this bird shows a thin rusty-yellow wing-bar. This is usually only obvious on immature birds after their first moult from spotted juvenile plumage.
A male Chaffinch (with an out-of-focus foreground twig across its belly).
I thought I ought to concentrate on female Chaffinches for a change. Somewhat understated but still attractive.
Interesting marks around the eye. Not shown in my bird books.
The same bird in a different pose. Note the brown on the upper back behind the grey shawl.
I had a lot of trouble with this species. I was trying to photograph in to the light and in fog. Tweaking the result produced this Linnet face-on.
It was one of a very large group, only some of which are seen here. That means that only one bird needs to get spooked and they all fly away.
On this view we see the distinctive white flash in the folded wing.
More obvious on this bird, while its companion shows how the tail is more deeply forked at rest than, for instance, a Chaffinch or Greenfinch.
Over-enlarged to show these features as best I can”.
(Ed Wilson)
