I thought I would share with you my experience.......
Yesterday afternoon the Sun came out for a few hours. I decided to have a walk around Eastville Park in the the Centre of Bristol.
There was the usual Grey Herons to see at the same locations where they are normally seen. I watched each one of them for some time hoping to see one catch a fish but they were all just motionless.
I made my way to the lake passing 3 Kingfishers flying low to the river. There were 5 Goosanders (2 Males) with the mallards.They did not seem to be put off by the many walkers with dogs. Eight Cormorants were sitting high up in one tree and another on the lake constantly diving but not coming up with any fish. There was also many Black-Headed Gulls as well as a Coot.
Along the River I heard a Grey Wagtail but couldn’t see it as it was dark in places. Eventually it showed itself and was constantly on the move. Each Time I tried to focus on it with my camera it would fly further up the river. I got my opportunity when it found an area of flies and I managed to get some great shots.
The Wagtail had actually led me to a Dipper that was on rocks in the river and it would emerge its head completely in the water and come up with a grub. I watched it toss stones over and eat something that was under the stone. I started taking photo's But was concerned that my camera shutter would scare it but it did the opposite, the dipper moved closer towards me. The sun started to shine through the trees giving a beautiful light on the water it was just a few minutes to get some photo's of the dipper before the sun disappeared behind a cloud. On my way back to the car there was a family of Long Tailed tits.
Not bad for a 2 hour walk. How lucky was I.
If you would like to see some more of my photo’s of my day please visit my Flickr page site……www.ukbirds.co.uk
Thank you for looking and have a wonderful Christmas all.
Regards
Paul Cousins
Lot to learn
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Nige Flickr
A very dull grey day today so I decided to have a quick walk through the park to check on the dipper. It was still showing well along with the kingfishers and grey wagtails.
This is one of the 3 grey wagtails that I saw yesterday
There has been a lot of rain in the past week and the River Frome is much higher and faster flowing. I checked out the usual spots where I usually see Dippers and was surprised to see this Dipper carrying out his business in his usual location. However, it was very disappointing to see so much rubbish in the river. The Dipper seemed attracted to it and would land near the old cans and at times standing on the debris.
Despite the bouts of rain and very strong winds, this GS Woodpecker kept visiting this dead tree in the park.
I held out for a break in the clouds and the light was just perfect for a 20 minute period just enough time to get a few shots in.