So after the marvellousness of the Fleet, I headed to Lodmore, hopeful of more fun in the sun. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I was greeted by a cormorant fly over!!
Maggie was looking unsettled as I walked along the path
As I peered over the little bridge, a swarm of Tufties, Mallards and Swans came toward me, obviously used to being fed by people. Tufty had a lovely sheen to his cheek
And the cygnet looked almost fully grown, in size, if not in plumage
There were lots of Lapwing, irridescing in a loverly way, and also Teal.
I'm thinking Bar Tailed Godwit, but only based on book picture, as it has less colour on the breast than the image of the Black-wit
I had to put another flying Cormorant in, because I can't believe I still had blue skies!!
Europe's longest birdbath was officially opened this morning, and the waiting crowds plunged right in
But some participants were over eager to have their splash
There was a healthy sized flock of Canada Geese
And another magnificent looking Corvid sentinel
A number of Shoveler were present (but I'm not going to tell you which number...)
The second "Surpise" bird of the day, a Red Neck Grebe
There were a good few other ducks about, including this Gadwall
Moorhen, taking shade from the blazing sunshine!
It was so nice out, even the Sparrows looked magnificent
Even if they were a bit grumpy
Fluttering movement caught my eye, and almost unbelievably a yellowish butterfly flew by, but didn't land, and not much bigger, a pair of teeny tiny waders landed amongst the Lapwings, I'm guessing at Sanderling?
As I looked back along the scrape to see if I had missed anything, a slight movement caught my eye.... (Jack?) Snipe
A male Shoveler, looking as good as a pretty boy can
Mrs Shoveler? but her beak doesn't look "shovelly" enough
***shanks or Sandpipers?
Shovelers on the wing
Oh, yes, I'm SO gorgeous, just call me Narcissus!!
A heron stood serenely as the world revolved
A shelduck finally stood still long enough for a quick pic
Another striking Shoveler
One of those rare two headed, one legged waders, who's name eludes me
Then as it was a loop I was approaching back to the car when Mr BB popped up, guarding his berries!
I returned to the car and had some lunch (a lovely roast beef and English mustard sandwich, if you're interested) and decided that, yep, it was a fine time to head to the old river...
I don't know what you're doing, and I'm not sure I like it
A Robin eyed me curiously
Most of the Cygnets were atop the weir
Yet another Corvid, looking fab in the sunlight
I saw my main quarry whiz down river, then another whiz up river, faster than a blinking eye, until I managed to track one to where it perched
I waited about 15 minutes for it to move to a clearer view, not looking at all suspicious with a big camera round my neck, at approximately school kicking out time , so I moved away from the main path further down stream, and was rewarded with so decent shots
A Chaffie started on me whilst I was still on Kingie watch
And the final couple is Kingie with snack
And Hmmm, what's for pudding?
So that concludes the 2 part rambling meander through the sunshine and a couple of my usual places. Hope you enjoyed it, feel free to add ID's where mine are lacking
Stay Safe All
Not a bad addition to the morning's work Great to get the Kingies. Your possible Sandpipers are all Dunlin (in their winter plumage). Brown female ducks can be tricky - possibly there should be a BFD acronym like LBJ! I think the one without a shovel might be a Wigeon ...
Part 2 is as good as Part 1
Loved the photo of the shelduck, the clarity of the water drop on his head, and the kingy complete with fish in beak....