Late Waxwings

I decided to shoot over to Wales for the last hour of sunlight this evening to try and get a few shots of three Waxwings that had been reported. I arrived to see them perched on an overhead wire above a couple of Cotoneaster bushes, amazingly for this time of year the bushes still held quite a lot of berries. They kept dropping down and feeding for a minute or two, before returning back to the wire.
The light wasn't brilliant and the pale coloured factory behind the bushes didn't help with the background, I managed a few half decent shots though. There was a female Blackcap and a Fieldfare in the bushes also, the latter was keeping well hidden though and wasn't photographable. A Pied Wagtail was an added bonus just as I was about to leave. Not a bad hours work for a spur of the moment session.

Waxwing

Blackcap (female)

Pied Wagtail

Common Toads

Earlier this week I was in North Wales photographing birds. Nearby a small lake was obviously a breeding ground for a good number of Common Toads, there were many making their way over the grass towards the lake, which was already swimming with them. I always try to make the most of  any photo opportunities because you never know when you will get the chance again. This was one of those occasions, so several hours later I had a bad back from lying on the ground and some quite nice shots.

Reed Buntings

A few shots from a recent session with Reed Buntings. These males are looking really smart at this time of year in their breeding plumage. I noticed that they have unusual feet, almost like fingers, this must be for them to grip the reed stems more easily.

Up Close and Personal

I thought I would do something a little different for this post. - A collection of close-up headshots of garden birds.
You can see how the face feathers differ between the species, the Nuthatch and particularly the Dunnock having quite course plumage, whereas the smaller Long-tailed Tit has very fine feathers.

Long-tailed Tit

Nuthatch

Robin

Blue Tit

Bullfinch

Coal Tit

Dunnock

Great Tit

Bullfinches

I am lucky to have at least three pairs of Bullfinches in my garden. They are always good to photograph, apart from their striking colours they are one of the few species that seem to pose for the camera, always pausing for a few seconds in a natural position, with their heads at a nice angle. I wish some of the other species would be as obliging.

Whooper Swans

As I said in my previous post I spent a fair bit of time photographing the Whooper Swans at Martin Mere Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust this week. I wanted to try and get something a little different. A few of them were bathing which always makes for some good action shots, the problem is getting them side on with their head at a decent angle. I also experimented with close-up and arty shots.  The ones of them drinking have some really crazy and amusing reflections.

Ducks

A bit of sunshine at last!
So off for my first visit of the year to Martin Mere Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in Lancashire to get some needed images under my belt. It was pretty quiet there with only a few ducks in front of the hide, I had hoped for Pochard but none to be seen, neither were there any Ruff which are usually present about now.
I decided then to concentrate on the Whooper Swans which I usually tend to take just a handful of shots of, I thought it was about time I paid them a bit more attention and my next post will show some of the results, but for now here are a few of the ducks which are looking their best at this time of year..

Pintail

Pintail

Teal

Wigeon Drake

Wigeon Female