Alan
Great photos. East Hide you say... with those photo angles? Not from the main windows, surely...
Peter
As promised. The horizontal lines within the vermiculation are reflections of the water ripples around the bird...
I do not understand what alternative you are suggesting.
Sy, That's brilliant. It's really magical.
And I thought you could only photograph birds when they were moving ...
Peter
Alan
Because they're amongst the best shots I've seen of Snipe on the Reserve, I wondered whether you meant the Concrete Hide (where the camera is a lot lower to the ground and photos such as these are more common-place), or if you'd managed to capture the birds on the foreshore whilst going up the steps to the East hide (affording such an apparently low camera angle)... that's all.
Simon
Nice one MarkThanks to all the group today I had a great morning its amazing how much we can achieve with such a dedicated group :t:
Hi all, well done to Paul (beyonder) for re-finding this little Gem. A shame that most of our Tuesday crew had gone home, but at least 5 of us saw it.
details later:t:
After the work party spent a bit of time in east hide where after seeing the lesser pecker we returned to. The pool was 95 % frozen, with an area 50m x 50 m just north of the east island being open water.
Species counts
GCG 3, Shoveler 5, Teal 70, Mallard 205, Tufted 22, Pochard 3 ( 2 males), Coot 120, water rail 3 calling, Snipe 3 , lapwing c100, curlew 16, herring gull 6, LBBG c10, grey heron 4, buzzard , sparrowhawk,
only managed to get great sp woodpecker, ironically there were lots of sightings of green on Sunday. I have only managed to see all 3 on 2 occasions.
A flock of 40+ fieldfare roosted on the east side of the pool.
The Lesser pecker was at the west end of the Salwarp track, either side of the river, also along there were 2 goldcrest and blackcap.
To the NW a large pre-roost gathering of starlings were perched along the power cables.
A couple of redpoll were heard and in the freshly managed area, a lot of birds were foraging.
Another couple of shots of the Leser pecker ( sy your welcome to do as you please with them :t
B John
PhilYet again Mallard numbers increase notably when there is a cold snap (particulary ice on the Moors Pool); does anyone have a clever theory why?
Phil
My theory:
On Friday whilst leaving the east hide at dark , I noticed large numbers of mallard dropping on to the Moors to roost or have a nocturnal feed up. From this I deduced that they were coming in from local, small waters and the nearby canal. Today those water bodies would have almost certainly been frozen up, forcing the birds to loaf all day around the Moors.
:t:John
The Lesser pecker was at the west end of the Salwarp track, either side of the river, also along there were 2 goldcrest and blackcap.
Re the lesser pecker, it was very approachable, so if people are careful some good photos could be had. If I can get some with my little 'dinky thing' then I'm sure you bazooka boys will do better. Please don't chase it around. It is such a rare bird that we must try and encourage it to stay, by giving it space.
:t: John
After the work party spent a bit of time in east hide where after seeing the lesser pecker we returned to. The pool was ........
The Lesser pecker was at the west end of the Salwarp track, either side of the river, ............Another couple of shots of the Leser pecker .....B John
Re the lesser pecker, it was very approachable, so if people are careful some good photos could be had. If I can get some with my little 'dinky thing' then I'm sure you bazooka boys will do better. Please don't chase it around. It is such a rare bird that we must try and encourage it to stay, by giving it space.
:t: John