Yesterday was a trip into the past but today I have decided to get back to nature.
Driving to work this morning the sky was so dull, grey and featureless and as the day wore on it didn't get any better. In fact outside right now it is positively miserable and I needed to find something to bring a little colour to my day.
Looking at these pictures maybe I have tipped the balance to a colour overload but what colours... I love wild flower meadows and this small swathe of wildflowers while not quite a meadow (it actually bordered the approach to Brick Croft nature reserve) is certainly a welcome sight today.
I have had a hard time in the past getting half decent shots of these birds because the places where I have seen them they tend to swim too far out or they seldom stay still for long and they will dive for ages and come up in a completely different place.
In the spring they perform beautiful courtship rituals using their elegant ruff to show off and attract a mate, and they dive down and collect nest materials also in an effort to prove that they have good breeding potential. I hope one day to be able to photograph that behaviour because it really is spectacular.
For now here are a couple of shots of a pair that were serenely swimming at Longton Brick Croft in Lancashire. I have been there a few times in the past and while I have always enjoyed my visits there has never been very much to photograph so I was pleased on this occasion to capture these images to share today. They were a fair way off so I have had to crop these pictures a bit but I'm fairly pleased with them.
A couple of years ago a friend introduced me to this place. It's called Brick Croft Nature Reserve, in Longton, Lancashire and as you can see it's a peaceful spot. I've been back a couple of times and enjoyed myself immensely.
At different times of the year different birds visit this spot and on this occasion there were a few swans and a breeding pair of Great Crested Grebes. The grebes had a chick in tow but unfortunately it stayed too far away from the banks and so I was unable to get a decent shot. So for today these pictures will have to do.
