Merry Christmas

 

Goldcrest Encounter

A brief encounter with a Goldcrest on a dull grey Sunday afternoon.

When is the weather going to improve.?

Winter Beardies - Radipole Lake

For some weeks now a visit to Radipole Lake Reserve Weymouth has not been possible due to the inclement weather we have suffered. The water level of the lake has been very high due to the heavy and constant rainfall. Many of the paths have been underwater.

This week I went for a visit and it is quite passable everywhere around the lake areas.

At this time and on into the rest of the Winter Bearded Tits can be observed more easily providing your are fortunate that is. At one of the locations that I have observed them before, I was able to take a few shots of one of six. They arrived at my position, pitched on reeds for about 6 seconds and then flew on. So I got this male below monetarily. 

Other Birders had seen them there earlier so I was quite fortunate that they had returned. There is a large acreage of Reed bed and they could be anywhere.

Blackbirds were making a meal of the last of the Haw berries.

Another rare occasion nowadays, I was able to get some shots of this Song Thrush as it perched in the middle of a bush.

Also showing quite well are male Great Tits.

The Robins are now somewhat more brave (especially as their plumage has recovered) popping out to the edge of bushes to see if you have any titbits for them.

Cormorants as always, sit on posts after a spot of fishing, drying out and preening their feathers.

Another Golden Plover Shoot

Yes I am afraid so, more Golden Plover images.

They are lovely birds to observe though.

My latest visit to Lodmoor Reserve revealed a very large flock of Golden Plover.

In fact the most I have seen in one place. There have been estimates of 2000 or more recently.

At one time after flying around and coming into land, many remained on the ground and others took off again. This procedure went on all the time I was there. The divided flocks having a fly around got really high in the air, almost out of sight. Then they would descend and look for a suitable place to land. 

However as will be explained later that was at a premium.

I mentioned the Golden Plovers looking for somewhere to land.

The Common Snipe that are resident on the Reserve were also having a problem.

The continued extensive rainfall has kept the water level high and a good days rain meant that there was then precious little ground for birds to exist or just pitch.

The Common Snipe moved around looking for any suitable bit of grassland that they could hide in.

Shelduck dindn't appear to mind about water levels.

The Grey Heron with its long legs couldn't have cared less.

A Dull Week

The last seven days have been pretty miserable for Nature photography and the study of nature.

The weather is either very wet or if dry, mostly overcast with a low cloud base. 

So I have included some monochrome images in this post in keeping with the normal outlook.

One bright moment was when I observed this female Kingfisher. The images are not great, but have to be included as it is not everyday that you get to see this lovely species.

This female Linnet popped up onto a high bush for a photo opportunity.

Just occasionally the sun shone through a gap in the clouds during the week, but it didn't last very long. 

This is why some of these images of a Skylark are brighter.

The fruit of an Ivy bush complements this monochrome shot.

Dunlin search for food during low tide.

As I prepare this post it has been raining hard all day and is likely to do so into the night. The weekend looks to be pretty much the same.

This image below sums up the period really.