I was a very chilly morning here last Wednesday and I was well wrapped up against the cold but it was sunny with a wonderful quality to the chill Arctic air. Perry Lane was full of visiting Redwing and a few Fieldfares plus, Robin, Dunnock, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Cetti's, and Blue, Great and Long Tailed Tits. Would I see any Beardies as my long-term project is trying to capture them in different weather conditions and frost is one I've not had any evidence of? I saw a couple of flocks of Reed Buntings busily feeding as I made my way down to the pontoon bridge but there were none around there and the surface of the lagoon was frozen. I saw a male Stonechat in the adjoining reed bed. Anyway to cut a long story short by the short pontoonI struck gold with distant views of Beardies feeding on the reeds. As I waited they gradually moved closer and I had them in front of me, to the side and behind me - completely surrounded! Anyway without more ado some photos!
A fabulous female!
A male with frosted breakfast!
Another beautiful female!
I've waited a long time for a nice well-lit, male Beardie, happy with this!
A lovely pair - unfortunately even with good light the depth of field wasn't sufficient to keep both sharp.
Some on the bridge surface too!
Through the reeds. Close up.
Another close up!
I have loads of photos but you can probably have too much of a good thing!
Fantastic photos and video, John--thanks so much for posting! And you would need to post far more photos for me to say it was (they were?!) too much of a good thing!
Kind regards, Ann
Great to see the Beardies John, they have such a distinctive sound so easy to pick out as they head to the reeds and grit trays. There seems a good number of them on your video clip, such a remarkable looking species but wish they would change the name to Moustached Reedlings lol How fantastic to also see them on the springy rubber tread bridge !
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Regards, Hazel
Wonderful John and you certainly can't have too much of a good thing.
Kind regards
Jenny
Stunning John, well worth the wait to get such distinct photos. Love the video too, thanks for posting.
Lot to learn
A beautiful set John, thanks for sharing.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Thank you Ann, Hazel, Jenny, Gaynor and CatL. I really never tire of them. My next challenge is to film them in the snow. I saw one a couple of years ago, strangely a juvenile, which flew up and down behind the screens on both sides of the main path. Unfortunately I only got photos of that one and because of the overcast winter sky results weren't so sharp.
Superb John !! but the first thing that came to mind was - you jammy *** :) but thats just sheer jealousy, these really are awesome shots & captures