Heron

A lovely picture sent in by one of our members.

Mongrel Mallard

The title is Sheila's description of the odd looking duck masquerading as the father of a brood of ten ducklings on the mere. It's probably a juvenile from a previous brood that's sticking with its mother still, so it's not the father (which is what I first assumed) though the father is almost definitely an odd looking duck itself, that has passed on its genes to this one.

It's interesting to note that one of the ten ducklings is similarly coloured and stands out from the rest - it is all dark bar a white breast.

sightings board April

Let sleeping snakes lie..

I nearly stepped on this grass snake that was
basking in the morning sunshine on the entrance

drive. A group of ramblers arrived at the same

and were thrilled to share this sighting with us.

This must now be the most photographed snake

in England! It eventually became camera shy

and slithered slowly away into the adjacent grass.

Perhaps it had only just come out of hibernation

as this occurs in March/April?

sunday 25th april

after a long absence, I've remembered the password and can include two pics from today's site visit.

First Chaenomeles, not native plant, but legacy of many years of cultivation.

Second is Speckled Wood butterfly taking brief rest in welcome sunlight......

foliage troubles

22.04.2010
my first visit for a while, too long really.
I was plagued by foliage getting in the way of my "perfect" shots, also unwanted branches.
We could also blame the creatures themselves, they don't want to be pestered do they?

here a wren tries to hide under a leaf -and nearly succeeds.

it's time to say "aah" as the ever present blue tits pose for us.

among the leaves, again.

the fritillaries on show again, though with some frost damage.
I managed to hide those to the rear of this shot, they appear lighter.

a peacock butterfly suns itself on a log heap, after all the cold, it's nice to see some beneficial sunshine.
Also seen, orange tip and speckled wood.

I saw a male mallard chase away a duckling earlier, the female seems to tolerate him still.
He's a bit of a mongrel, a bit dull. He may grow up to be a she, we'll see.
Anyway he has found the surplus seeds below the feeders, so he should survive OK.

sightings board March