Icelandic Swans Visit Norden

Norden - 27.3.19

It's 6.0 pm and I've just read on a local biding site that 33 Whooper Swans had turned up this am on a local reservoir, I should have looked earlier....doh ! With sunset is around 7.0 pm and I recon I may have around thirty minuets of light to get some images and to add its a ten minuet drive to get up to the reservoir, I'm thinking is it worth it, after a micro second I decide to go for it.

Now at the reservoir a quick scan I can see the swans at the other end, looks like I'm going to have to run as the sun is now so low it's starting to clip the hills over towards Holcombe. With some heavy breathing I managed some images shooting as low as 200/sec checking the image stabilisation is enabled as I need all the help I can get. After five minuets of shooting the light is so poor its pointless to continue, hopefully they will stick around until tomorrow morning when I'll try again.

Norden - 28.3.19

Dragging myself out of bed at 5.50 am I'm on site for 6.15 hoping the Whooper's would still be present, alas their appearance yesterday was only a stop over rest and have now departed glad I made the effort late yesterday afternoon.

Whooper Swan

High Tide Time

Parkgate - 22.3.19

With the great showing of Short-eared and Barns Owls a few days back and the forecast of a ten meter tide for today it's a return to Parkgate for event I've yet to see. It's 9.30am with a high tide due around 12.0 midday and the carpark is already almost full managing to get the last of the spaces in the overflow parking area, grabbing a coffee I make my way over the main viewing area to see who's about.

Work in progress...

Short-eared Owl

Pink Footed Goose

These winter visitors in numbers of around two hundred still present on the outer marsh, very vocal and constantly on the move as the marsh is transformed into a huge expanse of water, generally keeping their distance but occasionally a group would come within range of the camera.

Weasel

I suspect the Weasel is doing what all the other predators are doing, taking advantage of the abundance of Shrews and Voles forced into the open by the rising tide.

Water Vole

Normally you wouldn't see Water Voles at this location but the ten metre tide has reached the carpark wall totally flooding the marsh the only option for the Voles is move between the highest clumps of grass. Although there were many Shrews swimming around they are incredibly small never managing to get a clear shot

Last Of The Seasons Dee Owls

Parkgate - 20.3.19

Now nearing the end of March I'm surprised Short-eared Owls are still appearing almost daily down on the Dee Estuary at Parkgate with three "shorties" being seen only yesterday, a quick check on the weather and I've decided a trip over might be a good idea as they are sure to soon depart for their breeding areas.

Work in progress

Click image to view

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owls can be seen at any time through out the day at Parkgate but mid to late afternoon there's also a good chance of seeing Barn Owl and today was no exception.

Its now around 4.0pm and the light is still pretty good as the sun has arced around in the direction of  West Kirby with now a golden glow over the light brown salt marsh then a Barn Owl makes an appearance, I was told earlier there where two last night but I'm more than happy to see one.

I've been struggling a little photographing the "shorties" as the cameras autofocus isn't quite picking out SEO against the similar coloured background which I guess is down to the camera setting, I'm not have the same issue with the Barn Owl being lighter coloured but I just wish it would come a little closer.

Barn Owl

Just Champion

Sunday - 17th March

I've been on the road over the last couple of weeks supporting the Wales rugby team in the Six Nations Tournament.....Cardiff, Edinburgh and back to Cardiff this weekend so the camera as they say has had to take a back seat. Now the tournament is over and Wales are the Grand Slam Champions I'm eager to resume normal service so after that deluge of yesterday afternoon and a forecast of a little sun this morning I'm having a couple of hours out in the forest.

It's a sunny morning all be it a little on the cold side, the area I'm at this morning like many other locations shows signs of recent extensive boar activity so the search begins. An early morning dog walker approaches and asks......"have you come to see the boar?"....I reply "yes".....she continues "they are great, they are all over the place".

Public opinion regarding increasing the boar cull is split especially amongst FOD residents, I supposed you point of view all depends on whether you've suffered damage in some way and your view on nature, but there's no doubt there's extensive damage in some areas to public park spaces, roadside verges even football pitches looking more like ploughed fields.

I'm in an area quite dense in low thorny bushes and gorse which the boar tend to retreat to during the day, I hear a sow grunt which is a bit unnerving when you can't see no more than a meter in front of you so climb to higher ground, I can see a couple of humbugs and a sow, then another sow and more humbugs maybe up to twelve some sunning themselves amongst some gorse bushes.

Its a long shot and switch the crop camera to the 500mm and 1.4 extender giving 1,120mm focal length, the shots aren't what I had imagined or hoped for and certainly not what I'd see recently of low uncluttered images amongst bracken, never the less I'm grateful to be out and a great way to finish off the Grand Slam weekend...Wales..Wales

By the way...thanks for the heads up

Click image to view...

Wild Boar - "Humbugs"

Initially it was thought there were only three or four humbugs but it soon became obvious there were probably up to twelve individuals warming in the early the morning sunshine.

Happiness....just being able to sleep in the sun

Soldiers Of Sacrifice

The Plazza, Media City, Salford - 4. 03.19

Having seen a feature on the news channels this morning on the unveiling of a commemorative sculpture marking the 75th Anniversary of D-Day by Alfie Bradley, I've been on my travels down to Media City to get some images before it embarks on a short England tour.

The statue named the Soldiers Of Sacrifice represents Denham Brotheridge believed to be the first Allied soldier to be killed in enemy action on D-Day June 1944.

Lt Brotheridge of D Company 2nd Oxford and Buckingham Light Infantry, was mortally wounded in an attack which secured the bridge at Benouville.

Depicting a soldiers form crouching down as if to throw a grenade, but instead releasing a peace dove.

The sculpture will embark on a tour of selected locations in England and Normandy before residing permanently in the D-Day Story Museum in Portsmouth.

Click image to view...

Soldiers Of Sacrifice

Part of the sculpture is made from 4,414 replica bullets honouring every soldier that was killed on D-Day. You can see bullets in the tray below the sculpture which I suspect could be pilfered by the odd person.