Venus Pool - Great White Egret

Popped down to the ole Patch mid afternoon and nothing much was happening until... Yet another (or the same one I keep seeing there) Great White Egret!

And it was close, very close, I could only just fit him in the frame!

So a rufflle and close up head shot seemed appropriate?

As ever, the local Heron was having none of it... cue take off and flight shot!

And after returned to the same spot in front of the hide, you can guess what happened?

What you might call a very near miss in aviation terms...

Venus Pool - Yellow-legged Gull (2w)

After the adult Yellow-legged Gull seen in September here, nice to another one and this time a 2nd winter bird (looking remarkably similar to one seen by Dave Chapman the previous day). It was annoyingly always behind the small groups of Lesser BBs but eventually showed well...

With something unseen putting all the Lapwings up, it was soon time for flight shots!

Mostly underwing to start off with..

But eventually giving a clear view of the saddle, nearly fully mature and a feature quite distinctive against the mostly dark wings for this age of YLG...

A farewell bank as it left heading over towards the fishing pool...

Venus Pool - Whoopers vs Cormorant!

 The pool was nice and peaceful with the Whooper Swans either sleeping, feeding or cruising around. It all came to a sudden end when a Cormorant thought it would be clever to peck a Whooper Swan's foot?!

Seen in close up...

I personally don't think it was a very good idea! Watch the reaction....

Lucky for the Cormorant he dived just in time!!

The whole sequence only lasted two or three seconds...

Venus Pool - Whooper Happy Families

 In amongst the fifteen Whooper Swans present today, there were two family groups, who kept themselves separate. Family one had just the one juvenile...

Despite one of the parents straying out of the frame, you could detect the strong family bond.

Even when feeding!

The family with two juveniles stuck together more but once again, one of the parents was camera shy, keeping out of the frame!

The symmetrical lines had to be broken...

In the late afternoon sunlight, just finishing off feeding!

Swan life isn't always calm and leisurely however, as you will see in the next post!

Venus Pool - Black-tailed Godwit

Apart from Lapwings and Sandpipers, Black-tailed Godwit has generally been the most likely wader to see at VP this year with a steady flow of them from late summer. Up until now, they had always been interesting as 'group shots' but today, one was obliging me in front of the hide - in cracking light!

And after burying its head in the water, time to expel anything non-nutritious, like water or mud!

The light was good too, for a change!

There's still time for something special to drop in?? Just...

Wyre Forest - Spectacular Spiders

An excellent walk in the Wyre Forest with Shropshire Invertebrate Group turned up two spectacular spiders! One was a tiny (less than 1cm) Jumping Spider, simply stunning once the macro lens got to work 

It looked familiar, very similar to the cover picture (Evarcha arcuata) of Wildguides 'British Spiders' and turned out to be  in the same genus - Evarcha falcata.

The other was a large choice rarity - female Green Huntsman (Macromatta virescens)

Not venomous like the Tabloid Australian favourite from Australia but unsurprisingly quite a sprinter! 

Two very  choice additions to my spider list :-)

Venus Pool - Red Kites

'Make hay while the sun shines' is an appropriate proverb, spurring the local farmer into action 'harvesting' the grass for winter cattle fodder over the past couple of days at Venus Pool. The activity had attracted the attention of an estimated six Red kites too. plenty of flight opportunities albeit often distant...

A tail to be proud of, acting as a rudder for their acrobatic flight when feeding...

Upperwing shots were hard to come by but here's a distant one!

A nice head on moment as this one flew over the hide!

Not exactly Gigrin numbers but the best views I think I've ever had at the Patch!!