Treecreeper

I came across this Treecreeper which was busy feeding just before the sun went down.  The light wasn't brilliant and deteriorating rapidly, so uncharacteristically I took as many shots as possible in the hope that some of them would be sharp, with plenty deleted I was pleased to be able to keep 10 or more.

Arty Swans

Carrying on from my last post I was making the most of every bit of sunlight.  With the rapidly setting sun I wanted to find something to photograph as the warm light would make any subject look good, I was hoping for some waders but the tide was too far out.
Having driven past some Mute Swans on a small lake I decided to go back and try for some close up arty shots.  Two males were displaying with their wings arched which made for some nice images, exactly the sort of thing I was after. I didn't have long, the light was changing by the minute, so a bit of a rushed session which could have been easily overlooked.

Some Sunshine at Last

For the first time this year we had some decent sunshine last week, so straight out and to make the most of it I stayed fairly local. Having spent weeks editing images on the computer it was great to get out and use the camera.
I found some Shoveler ducks and with half the lake frozen over they were confined to a reduced area which made photographing this timid species a lot easier than normal. I settled down and spent several hours with them. Over this time they became quite confiding, coming reasonably close. The bushes in the background gave the water a lovely brown colour which has given the shots an atmospheric arty feel.

Snowy Blackbirds

I have ended up with several hundred images of Blackbirds in the snow.  This wasn't my plan, I had hoped for Fieldfare and Redwing shots but thanks to a couple of aggressive female Blackbirds they didn't get a look in, they and other Blackbirds were chased away every time they attempted to land. Even after spreading the apples over a larger area there was one bird that spent  more time and effort guarding them than it did feeding, at times it was the only bird on the ground, with at least 15 other Blackbirds wanting to feed.
I think it must have been to the Mistle Thrush school of fruit guarding!