Goosander

After the cool morning shots that I went out to capture (and which you saw in my last post) this was my second objective.

The previous day I had been told that there was a pair of Red-Breasted Merganser on the lake and some Goldeneye and I had even seen this pair of Goosander swimming around so I hoped to get some shots of these and the other species mentioned. As it turned out the Goldeneye were too far out on the lake to get a clear picture and there was no sign of any red-breasted merganser. The Goosander is also known as the common merganser and is larger than the red breasted variety. I do wonder whether someone had confused the two and reported the wrong species or whether I had missed out.

Even so it was nice to watch this pair swimming, and feeding together, they certainly make an elegant couple, and I was pleased to be able to get these shots.

I was interrupted in my efforts by a guy who wanted to talk about a range of topics from cameras to film making, street photography and even revolution. He had some interesting anecdotes and ideas some of which were quite compelling. However, while I might share my thoughts about different things from time to time I will try to avoid making this blog political and keep the focus largely on photography and the images themselves.

Have a great day.

 

In A Flap

So these first three shots are of Goosander, the first two being male and the third female. As part of their preening routine they scratched and rearranged their feathers and then shook them back into position.  I like the  diamond pattern in the first picture, formed by the outstretched wings and the dark feathers of the birds' back.

In comparison to the males the female in the third picture was much more calm and serene. I like the chocolate brown plumage of the head with the white bib which almost looks like a smile.

I took this final shot because it struck me as funny how all four ducks buried their heads at the same time, as if they were camera shy.  Can you come up with a suitable caption for this picture?  if so leave a comment...

And A Robin For Luck

I have been so frustrated recently because it is about five weeks since I was able to get out at a weekend to take some photos and when I saw the weather forecast for today I thought it would be another washout.  However I decided that I would head off to Mere Sands Wood and if the weather turned nasty at least I could take shelter in the hides.

I had hoped to get some pictures of some of our winter visitors however I was told by the warden that due to the unseasonably warm weather the usual migrant species from Scandinavia and the Arctic haven't turned up yet (if they do at all) and so there wasn't very much in the way of bird life and waterfowl to see.

Undeterred I walked around the quiet woodland and had a really lovely day. The light was really poor so getting good shots was a challenge, as you can see from the first two images I had to use a high ISO (10,000) and the resulting images are a bit grainy.  I was however pleased to get the shot of the Grey Heron just as it landed and you can see its wings extended to slow it down and the feathers along the leading edge of its wings extended further to act as air brakes.

The third picture is of a male Goosander, there is not a lot of detail in this picture but I like the reflection and the sense of motion created by the ripples in its wake.

The final picture is my first photo of a Robin this winter, I know that everyone loves Robins so thought I would add it to my blog for today.

I had a great day out, it was peaceful and quiet and although I did have to take shelter against a really heavy downpour I was happy.