We often see these blue-winged teal at Brazos Bend State Park, neat little birds, usually forgotten in the mass of more glamorous birds seen there.
These are American dabbling ducks that migrate south in winter and then breed from northern Texas upwards. They do have a pleasing neatness!
We’ve seen roseate spoonbills before at Brazos Bend State Park, but never close enough to photograph. This year, finally, there was a group in a rookery close enough to the visitor pathway.
Of course, the unusual spoon-shaped bill provides for specialised sifting of food from the mud. Like flamigoes the pink colouring comes from their diet, so shades vary in different locations
If you really want to see some great spoonbill pics go to Ted Jennings’ site.
Red-winged blackbirds are pretty common in Texas, although it’s not that easy to get a good shot of the red patch on the wings. These were reasonably obliging at Brazos Bend State Park, Texas.
If you don’t see the red patch, they’re easily confused with grackles. If you look at the wikipedia entry, the females are rather different, with fairly dull marking. We saw some hiding in the trees, separate from the males.
I spend some time watching the fishers in the rush of water where the outlet from Barker Dam merges into Buffalo Bayou to continue its journey to the sea.
The Great Blue Heron just stands in the water, motionless, waiting for what seems to be a rare opportunity.
The snowy egret stands on a rock or respectfully by the bank, away from the Great Blue. The technique is the same, waiting for an opportunity with intent concentration.
Finally, the cormorant swims in the water below the rush. From time to time he dives into the turmoil, swimming toward the current, often emerging with a fish in his beak.
There’s no doubt which is the most successful technique. A throng of around 10 cormorants is harvesting most of the fish. Heron and egret get the occasional consolation.
I couldn’t resist these mandarins ducks at Stover Country Park. The female is a pretty bird, but tends to be eclipsed by the spectacular male.
According to the RSPB, there are now 7000 of these ducks in the UK, all descended from escapees. Of course, they were originally from China.
Baby coots are just so cute. This family was feeding on the lake in the evening sun at Stover Country Park, Devon.
According to the Wildlife Trusts, the saying ‘bald as a Coot’ refers to the white patch, or frontal shield, just above the bird’s bill, rather than its lack of feathers.
A family flotilla of Canada Geese passes by a pair of resting grebes on Tatton Park’s lake. Springtime!
The bypass lasted only a few seconds, as the flotilla was steaming along, so I had to be quick with the shot.
This white ibis at Brazos Bend Texas State Park was just asking to be photographed. In my experience this resting pose on one leg is less common that their habit of foraging in the vegetation in marshy areas.
The point where the outflow from Houston’s Barker reservoir runs into Buffalo Bayou is a great for a spot of fishing. Here a great blue heron waits patiently, intent on the running water. A snowy egret waits to the side, a good distance from the prime spot.
Throw a pile of crumbs or seed onto the prom at Crosby, and it doesn’t last long. First, the gulls take the best bits.
Then comes the starling cleanup squad.
It’s all over in seconds.
Eurasian Jays are said to be shy woodland birds rarely moving far from cover. But in winter there’s a much better chance of seeing them. This one was in the old apple tree in our garden, staying for a while to be surreptitiously photographed through the window.
Prettier than the much more visible crows and magpies, to which they are related.
The village of Parkgate on the north bank of the Dee Estuary presents a beautiful aspect on a sunny day. The continuous quay of what was once a port, before it silted up, gives a fine aspect on the white buildings set against the nature reserve of the estuary itself. On this occasion we saw lapwings, marsh harriers, great egrets, kestrels, and varous ducks and geese.
The most striking building is Mostyn House School, which I’ve photographed before (for example in this post). This time I looked for more detailed shots against a stunning blue sky.
The building was not always thus, and has an interesting history. The original building was a hotel for 100 years, linked to the success of Parkgate as a holiday resort, when there was had an outdoor lido. The Mostyn Arms Hotel even had a ballroom. In 1855 the hotel was sold to one Edward Price of Tarvin, who moved his school to Parkgate, but the structure was deteriorating.
“I have never seen such a horrible hole in all my life…” was the comment in 1863 when a new owner’s wife, a Mrs Grenfell, first saw it.
By 1899 the building, again according to her husband, was a ‘decrepit, insanitary wreck’. It was pretty well rebuilt over the next ten years to become the building we see today. A fine job they did, but clearly the building is not as old as you might think!
The school closed in 2010 and the building was subsequently converted to apartments. See timeline.
These were the individual posts, if you’re interested: Towards Tywyn, Sun going down at West Kirby, Sunset at Barmouth, Chinon, Black pine canopy, Common gallinule
As ever, the most viewed probably depends on the vagaries of search engines and my choice of keywords. The top two were the same as in 2020!
At least the top entry suggests that this exercise is worthwhile.
Parkgate looked wonderful on sunny Wednesday morning, the old quays looking out over the Dee Estuary Nature Reserve towards North Wales and the sea.
Wildlife there was aplenty, but you needed binoculars for most of it – the marsh harrier patrolling, the kestrel hovering, the mass of lapwings landing, the great egret hunting, pools ringed by basking ducks… Just the grey heron was close and still enough for a reasonable photograph (featured image).
And the old Mostyn House School is always so photogenic.
We see cormorants quite commonly in UK, in Europe and in US. Few present themselves quite so conveniently as this one, on a post near the promenade at Southport’s Marine Lake.
Unfortunately the light was fading, and there was strong backlighting on the water, so texture on the back could be better.
See also Cormorant.
This great spotted woodpecker is a frequent visitor to our garden, attracted by the feeding station and also by the trunk of the old apple tree. I noticed it as it set about searching for insects in the nooks and crannies of the tree. The only way to get a shot was through the window – not the best way but necessary, and editing software did a bit of colour correction.
This is an adult, as it does not have the red head of the juvenile in my earlier post. It’s probably the same bird.
I got the impression he saw me behind the glass, as he appears to be looking directly at me in the featured image. Notice that he’s hanging on backwards!
This hooded merganser duckling was the cutest chick on our recent visit to WWT Slimbridge.
Chiff, chaff, chiff, chaff, chiff chaff…
The little bird insistently called out from somewhere within the nearby hedging trees in Wirral Country Park. Eventually I managed to locate it singing away, showing just enough to take a photo. Of course, it was a chiffchaff, named onomatopoeically.
A second chiffchaff gave a better opportunity, caught in action singing away..
Then looking down.
Greylag geese are pretty common in UK. These two have taken up residence on Knutsford’s Moor Pool.
A visit to the English seaside has always featured herring herring gulls, which are both an attraction and a bit of a nuisance when they steal food. Over recent decades some have moved inland, finding food quite plentiful there, as they are omnivores. But I think their preference is still to be by the sea. This one, at Mortehoe in Devon, was looking for food at the local teashop.
Despite this versatility, herring gulls are on the UK red list of endangered populations.
The astute observer will notice that the verticals and horizontals are not quite right – one of the hazards of impulsive candid shooting, which was on this occasion not easily corrected by editing.
I can't believe it! 