Elegance in Black and White

My second outing of the year was another trip to Martin Mere Wildfowl and Wetland Centre in Lancashire. This time however I had a couple of my grandchildren with me and so I didn't expect to get that many photos. Much to my surprise though, I took just shy of 140 shots while my eldest grandson also managed to take lots of pictures with his own mini digital camera. It was such a lot of fun.

As well as the birds out on the mere we also went around the collection of more "exotic" species and so I have a nice mix of birds to share, when I get round to editing all of the pictures and sorting out the ones worth posting.

Today here are some shots of a Whooper Swan and Black Swan, you will be able to work out which one is which...

The Whooper Swan is a winter visitor which comes down from its breeding grounds in Iceland. They are so elegant and normally as they swim around they hold their necks straight. In these images the bird has been feeding hence its curved neck. They are an Amber Listed species in terms of their conservation status and they are a Schedule 1 listed bird which means it is illegal to disturb them. They are regular winter visitors to Martin Mere.

The Black Swan is a native of Australia but it is now thriving in New Zealand and in the UK. Their plumage is entirely black except for some flight feathers which are white.

My favourite image today is the second one which is a much softer image as a result of reducing texture and clarity and adding a slight vignette giving a slightly dreamy quality which enhances the elegance of this beautiful bird.

It was This Big

 It is just over 11 years since I started posting photos on this blog and although I don't post nearly as often as I used to it still generates a fair bit of traffic from all around the world, which is quite reassuring. For example even though I didn't post at all since mid August I had over 41,500 views last month and over 1,000  per day this month too. In the grand scheme of things I don't really know how that compares to others but it is nice to know that what I am posting gets seen somewhere.

Sometimes I can go out with my camera and take hundreds of photos in a very short time and then on days like today when the light was  rather flat and grey I will take much fewer. Today over three hours at Martin Mere WWT reserve in Lancashire I took just 32 photos, the best of which I will share below. Even though I wasn't snapping away I still enjoyed the time there, sitting in the hides enjoying the company of like minded people or walking along the quite pathways and I was really pleased that I had made the effort to get out.

So to the pictures... Rather than split them up over several days I am going to put them all here with a few comments.

Firstly a couple of shots of a Black Tailed Godwit. These are incredibly rare birds in the UK, a Red Listed species with less than 50 breeding pairs being recorded across the UK so to see two here at Martin Mere was a genuine treat.

Next we have this very snooty looking Greylag Goose, these are fairly common and often seem fairly tame. This one, stood on the side of the lake was definitely posturing.

When it comes to superiority this beautiful Whooper Swan really seemed to be bragging about something. These are winter visitors to the UK coming down from Iceland. It is an Amber Listed species and it is illegal to disturb these birds. It is great to watch them swanning around on the lake. Sometimes they are very serene and at other times they get in quite a flap. It was amusing watching them vying for the best spots on the lake and this one, in this series of pictures appears to be trying to convince us that it really was that big, no, Really, That Big!

It is said that when Robins appear loved ones are near and today that definitely felt like it was true, and as I thought about that saying I thought among others about my mother in law who would have been 89 tomorrow.

And finally, perhaps my favourite shots of the day, not birds at all but a series of pictures of a leaf. Yes, that's right, a leaf. Don't switch off yet I promise these are pictures worth your time.  As I was walking along a path beneath the trees on my way out I saw a random leaf apparently hovering in the air. Of course it was not hovering at all, it was suspended by a gossamer thread that from most angels was completely invisible. In the low light and with the backdrop of autumn colours I thought it was fun to capture these final few images. It wasn't until I enlarged the pictures at home that I was able to see the thread by which the leaf was hanging, but not in all the pictures. I love the lighting and the bokeh in these pictures and the way the leaf appears to be floating or in free fall and I thought it was a fun way to end this post. Enjoy...

That's all for today, come back soon, and please feel free to leave a comment or share this post.