No need to get wet!

On this rainy day, I have been rewarded with a sighting on the reserve of a little grebe; a kingfisher; & two swans... all from the warmth & dryness of my kitchen. Magic!

they're back

04.02.09
it's the reed buntings, who were first spotted last year, 23.03.08
-today I saw two, but photographed one.
They may have been here all year long,
-but if they were, I didn't see them . . .

04.02.09
there was a "fly over", of perhaps 10 redwing.
Elusive, noisy, shy and fast, they remain a difficult bird to "capture".
This one was 100 yards along the railway track from the Mere, after the fly over,
-so it's one for this site as far as I'm concerned.

27.01.09
always worth including, the ever obliging blue tit

27.01.09
the lovely, elusive, ever-on-the-move, long tailed tit

27.01.09
two shots of what currently, seems to be our resident song thrush,
-on this misty morning, pointed out to me by Jack.

17.12.08
a young mute swan

07.12.08
mallard may be common, but they always look full of character,
-this female looks a bit threatening.

07.12.08

mallard, included here purely because I quite like the pic;
-they had their eye on me and soon made off.

07.12.08
little grebe, snapped way after the pair had been spotted.
Looking eerily atmospheric in the mist.

the little grebe, finally

a good view at last
(taken 27.12.07)

elusive visitors

there has been a solitary little grebe on site for a week or so,
fishing voraciously -this has been perhaps the best shot so far,
just as darkness loomed over The Mere. (taken 29.11.07)

two collared doves on the feeder today, quite an odd effect as the front and back of the birds are presented simultaneously.

at last a snap of this elusive fellow, a male kingfisher
-quite close to the main bridge, just as the light was failing before a huge rainstorm.