I know these aren't the greatest shots of (what I believe is a female kestrel); I can blame the poor light, or the cold wind, or the fact that the bird was moving and that it was quite a long way off. However I really like these images, really like them.
I love the layers of light and the way the little light there is brightens up the plumage. I love the form of the bird as it hovers searching for its next meal.
I watched for some time and three times it plummeted down but each time coming up "empty-handed" before moving on to another patch of ground where from a different vantage point I later saw it devouring its prey
Two Pictures
Two Species
Two Geese
Getting good shots of birds in flight is not easy and to be honest I wasn't really set up for these as I was taking pictures of swans swimming and smaller songbirds in the trees. On each occasion the geese flying by took me by surprise and I would have preferred to use a faster shutter speed. All the same I am fairly happy with these shots of Canada Geese in the first image and Greylag Geese in the second.
Today I am posting my 1500th blog post! That is something of an achievement and when I realised yesterday that I was going to reach this milestone I wondered what I would be able to share, I hoped to find something special in my portfolio but as it happened the three images I have fopr you were taken today and they are a fitting choice.
I have had a busy day today but I found time this afternoon to visit Burton Mere. I wasn't really expecting to see very much but there was quite a variety of species to be seen and with it being the hottest day of the year so far it was good to get out and soak up some sun.
Towards the end of my visit I spotted this buzzard soaring overhead, this was quite a surprise and I didn't have the settings quite how I would have wanted but as it swooped and soared above me I managed to get a few shots the three above being the most usable.
I had snapped a Sparrowhawk earlier in the day but it was too far away to be any good, and just after the buzzard flew by a Marsh Harrier also took a low pass but it was too quick for me to get anything other than a snap as it disappeared in the distance.
Although it would have been great to get pictures of all three the fact that I saw them all in such a short space of time was enough to put a smile on my face.
Today I wanted to continue the theme of birds in flight and today's choice of bird is the beautiful Shelduck.
These were some way off and so I have cropped in quite close to get the best image. You can see from the first two pictures the fantastic markings on the underside of these handsome birds, seen here in breeding plumage. In the first two images we have a male bird and in the other two shots there are two males and one female. The way they can be distinguished from each other is the male has a raised knob on its bright red bill.
These birds are more commonly seen around coastal estuaries so seeing them at Mere Sands was a treat. They will be busy rearing their broods of 8 to 10 young around about now. They like to nest in a variety of places including in holes on the ground, under brambles or between straw bales but they are also known to nest in trees.
They like to hang around in small family groups but can be seen in larger groups towards the end of the summer before the adults head off to the North Sea where they moult.
Living on the coast I am quite used to seeing these birds but surprisingly I haven't photographed them very often but having taken the time to find out a little more about them today I am inclined to go out and look for them again quite soon.
