Venus Pool - Blackwits

Two Black-tailed Godwits gave some wader interest today!






Including one particularly smart bird in Summer plumage!








An obliging brief flight to the nearer of the muddy islands.....

Goldcliff lagoons - Ruddy Shelducks

Swimming gala duty took me to Newport (Gwent) for the weekend and a brief break from the heat and humidity of the pool took me to the nearby wetlands for an hour Sunday morning.

The only birds of note (for what it's worth) were a pair of Ruddy Shelduck. The age old question of 'origin' will of course never be known and the list police can back off as they won't be on my list! Nevertheless, worth a picture or two as the bird information sites keep putting the news out......






Male and then female portraits - quite easy to distinguish.








They were just as flighty as the local Shelducks and the moral is.....






Get to the front of the flock if you want to remain unwhitewashed!!

Cute or what?

A bit of an assorted round up of mainly 'cute' images taken here and there. Hard to ignore some of these fluffy subjects at this time of year!

Lapwing chick - being watched over by a guardian angel?








Cygnets all ashore......






Tufted ducks galore.....








Feeling sleepy?






Hmm, not exactly cute but the young have got to eat something!

Venus Pool - Hobby

Raptors and luck have gone hand in hand with me over the past few weeks but one of my favourites has escaped attention - a Hobby!

That all changed with an hour long session of inctivity at Venus Pool - climaxed by a fly through from this individual....









Taxi service duties and collection of Kate from Uni beckoned for the rest of the day!!

Venus Pool - Greenshank

Another Greenshank passing through at VP and a very obliging bird despite the marginal vegetation which constantly ruined many a shot.....








A chance for a close up study?








A bird in calm water always oozes potential for including reflections? They don't always work but pleased with this one.......






And what was the attraction? Well, Greenshank can put Herons to shame on the fish catching front!






And if you don't believe me!

Shropshire - Peregrine moment!

A young female Peregrine, basking in the warm evening glow before a brief flight overhead - moments such as this never fail to give pleasure.....








I've had lots of 'Peregrine moments' - they never disappoint but an aerial manoeuvre is often over in the blink of an eye! On vitually the anniversary of a much celebrated image, I managed to catch the pass of a small bird from female adult to young male offspring!

What was interesting (if you look at the first image) the female was carrying the bird in her bill rather than talons - takes some nerve trusting the youngster with those trather sharp talons.......










What a moment!

Upton Warren - Phalarope finale

My last twitched Red necked Phalarope (Belvide) ended up in dip tray, having missed it literally by minutes! Here I was contemplating an early finish and firing over to Upton Warren on the way home! Daft or what?

I succumbed to temptation, largely due to effects of pollen (tearing my eyes out) and the thought of missing the Kings Lynn traffic mayhem.......

(About) three hours later......

The sailing club car park was quiet - not a good sign but a birder driving off cheered me up - it was "still there but distant". I settled for that!

Now, for Upton Warren such a small bird is always likely to be distant but at least it was just beyond the islands on the near bank. I got my bins on it first and then..... it promptly disappeared behind vegetation.....

A few minutes passed and at least I got a record shot or two ......








(and lets face it - that's all they are!)

Constantly harrassed by either Coots or Gulls....










It was not surprising that eventually, it took shelter by the reed bed on the far bank. And, slightly knackered, I concluded the journey home......