This was my fourth visit to the area which had been pretty unproductive on the Whooper Swan front! Today however, I was looking at a decent number, nineteen in total and they were not too distant!
There were two family group, here with two juvs (plus one)...
I was meant to be concentrating on the swans but spotted some movement out of the corner of eye... A Red Kite...
Into some blue sky...
Probably the first worthwhile images of the the year? Blue sky has been a limited commodity for a month or so!!
The floods near Melverley / Edgerley were the place to be today although it was hard work at first! Numerous Pintail and Wigeon (occasionally taking flight) were on the flooded fields..
plus Shelduck, Teal, Greylag and Canada Geese. It all kicked off however just after midday when the flock of Russian White-fronted Geese decided to depart from the Alberbury side of the floods and arrived overhead calling... This is the complete flock of 57 geese...
It was another twenty minutes or so before they looked like settling and approached the floods I happened to be standing by...
And then, the moment I had been hoping for - closer approach...
They started to break up into smaller groups..
Before coming down onto the water, sadly behind trees! Not that I was complaining, the views had been amazing!
Quite a panorama and despite the distance I still couldn't get them all in the frame!
After paddling about on the water for a while, they moved into the field and started feeding.
I'd only seen a single Whooper Swan up to this point but four more, including a juvenile wandered out from behind a hedge into the open!
I've had some brilliant moments at these floods but this was right up there for spectacle...
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