Whatever happened to spring/summer ? The weather, as probably most of you have experienced, is far from good for this time of year and vastly different to when we visited rspb Minsmere just over a year ago when we were wandering around the reserve in mostly in short sleeve shirts ! Has been a mix of very grey cloud, cool at times and very breezy conditions sending a lot of the smaller birds down into the reeds and bushes although this doesn't bother the Marsh Harriers which are seen reasonably frequently. Expected to have more photos for you but I've hardly practised with the new Canon 5R and 100-500 lens so still a work in progress ! The sun tends to appear in the evening at the moment when we are back at the rental house and today as I volunteered to go the long walk back to fetch the car nearer for t'other half he told me I'd missed the Bittern right in front of the hide by five minutes LOL.
Here's a few from today, the others have been put on odds and sods thread.
Marsh Harrier (male)
Common Whitethroat, one of dozens seen and heard singing throughout the reserve ..........
Quite a few Barnacle Geese and the first time I've seen their offspring ........
This next photo is when an inquisitive coot decided to take a peak at the new youngster ..........only to be told by Mr Barnacle Goose to get back where he/she came from !!
Konik ponies keeping the grass trimmed .......
Far too far away for a reasonable photo but Mediterranean gull; thanks to Bob for Black-headed Gull ID;
lots of avocets and also an unusual number of Kittiwakes on the scrape along with huge numbers of Terns ........
5 great egrets have been seen at one time; here are two of them in flight ........
When the sun did pop out - for 8 minutes. !! I saw a few bumble bees on flowers by the coastal area
and one of the hundred or so terns ........... this one practicing for the Olympics performing balance beam routine !!!!
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Regards, Hazel
Lovely photos there Hazel. Nicely captured.
Ed
Nice set, good to see you out and about in the English summer. For what its worth I think its a Black Headed Gull - as far as I can see the bird has a more delicate bill than a Med and the wing tips should not be black.
cheers Bob, I heard the sound of Med Gull but maybe with so many gulls around and mostly BH Gulls that I focused on the wrong one ! was so far away to be honest and somewhat silhouetted.
Very nice Hazel, despite the weather, hope you get to see the bittern a little closer ... tomorrow perhaps lol
Enjoy the rest of your wee holiday
(Pardon the Scottish Accent)
Nice set Hazel... snap with iffy weather at Minsmere.. we were iffy with 1000mph winds when we went lol New gear seems to be working well, and you can't photograph what isn;t there!! Thanks for sharing
Glad to see all the R5's buttons are starting to make sense - and nice to see you again too
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Find me on Flickr / All about your camera - The Getting off Auto Index
Nice set of pics Hazy.
A fabulous collection of photos from Minsmere Hazel, irrespective of the weather.
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler
Nice selection of photo's Hazy.
Whistling Joe said:Glad to see all the R5's buttons are starting to make sense
Not sure many of the buttons make sense to me at the moment LOL but I keep practicing with my old and slowing brain !! It was also great to catch up with you and Mrs WJ who are doing a fantastic job. Weather seemed better today with less wind and warm sunshine although sadly we head towards home tomorrow ! Did catch the bittern in flight today a few times from Island and Bittern hides starting off at 7am first visiting the Island Hide so that's dedication for you. LOL.