Little Grebe

 

A couple of years ago I sat in a hide at Mere Sands Woods watching a pair of little grebes gathering material to build their nest and feeding right in front of the hide. They are such cute and wonderful little birds.

It was nice yesterday to watch this little fella fishing at Burton Mere. Everybody else around me was trying so hard to spot the Bittern (see yesterday's post) that they hardly paid any attention to the little grebe right under their noses. As tiny as they are these birds are so graceful and they are excellent at catching fish, they dive gracefully and you can follow a trail of bubbles in anticipation of where they will rise to the surface once again. They are constantly on the go though so even when they bob back to the surface they are not there for long.

Long Tailed Tit

 The long tailed tit is one of my favourite species of birds. They are very small and always on the move so very hard to photograph. I know these are not the sharpest images but I wanted to share them all the same since they are such gorgeous little bundles of cuteness. 

I could make excuses after all they were quite a way off, high above me and it was very cold so that combined with the fact that they hardly stopped still for a fraction of a second made it really challenging to get even these shots. However I wont make excuses and will simply admit they are not at the standard I would hope for and as always that will motivate me to go out and try to do better next time. And anyway they're not terrible and you can still see how lovely they are.

Red Panda

These are absolutely, definitely one of my favourite mammals.

I think they are great to photograph because they have so much personality.

This one was in the Tiergarten, the Zoo in Vienna 

You have to admit they're so cute.

Long Tailed Tit

One of my favourite native species of bird is the long tailed tit. These tiny birds gather in family groups and small flocks and they fly around noisily chattering to each other. At the end of the day they will roost together in trees and bushes all huddled up to stay warm.

There really is no other bird quite like it, it is amazing how much cute you can get in such a tiny package.

Little Jenny Wren

Walking through the woods at Mere Sands I was treated to the beautiful sound of so many song birds.

Spring has arrived and as the woodland comes to life with green shoots and blossoms you can feel a change in the air. 

One of the prettiest songs on my walk was that of the wren and I managed to spot a couple in the shade. They are very small, very timid and they move about very quickly making them very tricky to spot and even harder to photograph.

I love the way they use their tails to balance just before flying off. They are just so cute. 

I was curious to know why the Wren is known as a Jenny Wren so did a little research and dug up a few interesting facts.

They have a powerful song which I have mentioned already, but did you know they can hit two different notes at the same time?

They are quintessentially British birds and are one of our most common songbirds, in the past they were know as "King among birds". In German they were called "hedge king" or "kinglet".

They eat insects, spiders and even tadpoles but perhaps surprisingly they also like a piece of cheese.

The term Jenny Wren applies because they are fiercely protective of their young and the female in particular will be extremely vocal to alert her brood against danger, and this has led to a tendency to view wrens as female leading to the moniker Jenny Wren.

The Original Chipster

I was going to go back to posting pictures of fungi again today since I have so many but I decided instead to share a couple of shots a cute little chipmunk.

We had walked to the highest point at the end of the finger point trail, there were some fantastic views out across the lake which made the effort of the climb worth it. Pausing for a snack before heading back down we were visited by this young fella, who was quite timid at first but after a few minutes he approached a little closer so we got a better view.

Cheeky

The title of today's post relates firstly to the magnificent cheek bones of the elephant in the first picture 

Secondly it relates to the cheeky pose of the oh so cute baby elephant in the other picture.

Enjoy!

No Apologies

Tamron 150mm-600mm f/5 - 6.3

ISO 1000   329mm    f/6.3   1/250 sec

ISO 1000   600mm    f/6.3    1/250

I said yesterday that I have well over 100 pictures from my morning walk at the Formby squirrel sanctuary and I can't not share them (well some of them anyway).

I think they're so cute and looking at them now these little critters make me smile and remind me of a wonderful woodland walk.

Climbing High

It is Christmas Eve and by now hopefully everyone is ready for the big day tomorrow. I for one am ready to put my feet up and take things easy, for a while at least. I still have time to share a picture with you though...

I took this one earlier this year during a visit to Chester Zoo. I hope to go back to the zoo later this week to see how all the animals are doing and hopefully see some of the recent arrivals. For now here is a super cute bear cub up a tree which I am sure will raise a smile.

I hope that you enjoy this picture and I wish you all very best wishes for the season, Merry Christmas 

Little Blue

This little Blue Tit is just so cute. I was recently talking to a friend about how so many of our native birds lack colour when compared to lots of exotic species from around the world and yet when you look at some of the pictures I have posted in the past week, of Gold Finches, Lapwings, the Great Spotted Woodpecker and this little beauty today perhaps our birds are not so dull after all.

These birds are seem so delicate and small and yet they live outside in the harsh wet and cold as well as coping with the heat in summer showing that they are really quite hardy.

Young and Beautiful

I was going to share some pictures of some of the stags today but looking through my pictures I couldn't resist posting some more of the new generation, they're so flipping cute.

It was such a treat to get up close and get these images I am so lucky.

Adorable

I have often said how patience is an essential trait for a photographer and it really is, however today I have given in to impatience. 

I have still got loads of pictures from my visit to Ness Gardens to share and I haven't even started on my shots from my trip to the New Forest or the Historic Dockyards all of which I am really excited to post here on my blog, however today I went to Chester Zoo for a couple of hours and got some great shots that I just had to share as soon as possible.

The zoo has a number of new additions including a baby Andean Bear and a baby Black Rhinoceros and there were other critters that I had not seen on previous visits including the painted dogs and porcupines so I was keen to pay them a visit.

If you have followed my blog you will know that the Red Panda is just about my favourite animal and so whenever I visit the zoo I pop over to say hello. I think you have to agree this is such an adorable creature, he is a level of cute that tops everything else and is guaranteed to raise a smile. When you look at these pictures you will hopefully understand why I had to share them.

Little Grebe

While I was trying to capture the shots of the Long Tailed Tits shown in Monday's post I was met by another photographer who told me that he had just observed a pair of Little Grebes swap places sitting on a nest and suggested that if I stopped off at the nearby hide I would get the chance to spot the birds for myself.

I love these little birds so I took the advice and went to the hide with hopes high. It was a bit of a blow when I arrived as the grebe was nowhere to be seen. It was a good job however that I am patient because after a while he popped up and swam around a bit so I could grab some shots.

This is such a cute little bird and he spent almost as much time under water catching insect larvae and tiny fish as he did on the surface. I love the determination in the first of today's images, and the clear reflection as he swam towards me. In the second shot I think he was teasing me as he was partially hidden by the reeds around the hide.It was definitely worth spending time in the hide and while I was there I made up my mind that I would come again.

Understated Beauty

This little beauty is Prunella modularis, a Dunnock.

They are regular visitors in my garden feeding on the seeds that get tossed to the ground from the feeders. They're not brightly coloured and are similar to sparrows in many ways and so could be easily overlooked.

But take a closer look and they have some really lovely features. Take this particular specimen feeding on seeds and treats at Mere Sands Wood. I had been looking at a lovely black bird on a bench when this little fellow arrived and I captured several candid shots as it skipped along the edge of the bird table in search of the best morsels. Just look at his red-brown eyes and shiny dark beak, and those orange-brown legs. Dunnocks are often seen on the ground where they appear quite drab and brown but from this angle you can see its beautiful grey head and neck with soft contrasts around the eyes. I love it and hope you do too.

I Want One of These

I mean seriously this is so cute, who wouldn't want one?

Ruby Throated Beauty

I was so excited to see these beautiful hummingbirds up close and could easily have spent hours watching and photographing them. I know that I have shared some pictures of them before but I love them so much that I just have to share more. I like the "pose" in this shot with the curve of the breast and the way its feet are tucked in, but also if you look closely you will see the tip of the birds tongue peeking out.

In A Flap

The last of my pictures from Skomer (well the last that I am posting to my blog anyway) and I hope you will agree that they're pretty good. I have really enjoyed sharing my photos from that trip I think they are among my most favourite shots since I started this blog.

Tomorrow I will be choosing something very different and then later in the week I will begin a series of very colourful pictures from a recent day out which I can't wait to share with you.

A Classic Pose

I was able to take several pictures of the red squirrels at Formby during my early morning visit and got chatting to another photographer from Essex also taking advantage of the quite and early morning sun to observe these stunning little creatures. Sadly the light didn't last too long and dog walkers and joggers sent the squirrels into the tree tops out of harms way.

Most of the time the squirrels were scampering around in search of food barely stopping but every now and then one would pause and nibble on a nut and I was able to capture the moment in these classic poses.