Today I made another visit to the Shropshire Ornithological Society (SOS) reserve at Venus Pool. It was a crisp sunny day with the light behind me giving good conditions for photography. The downside was the ice that kept most birds rather further away than I would have liked.
There was a good variety of ducks. A drake Shoveler with bathing Common Snipe in the foreground
A drake Gadwall of course.
A drake (Eurasian) Wigeon
And a drake Teal
Another drake Teal in reflective mode.
A Lapwing showing why it has the country name of Green Plover.
Another passing by.
Not easy to photo in flight: a Common Snipe.
A view of the underwing here.
Peering over the edge with frosted grass in the foreground.
And here out in the sun.
Usually there are as many as twenty Cormorants present. The ice presumably deterred them. This immature (the white flecking on the belly) dropped in for a few minutes.
Something different. This friendly little Wood Mouse (
Apodemus sylvaticus) was running around at speed making sharp photos difficult.
Here it is showing why this species is also called Long-tailed Field Mouse.
Another view.
(Ed Wilson)
