Black-headed Gull diving

I have seen Terns diving into water to feed but I don't recall seeing Gulls doing the same thing.   Previously I have seen Black-headed Gulls catching insects on the surface of the water but not immersing themselves to this extent.   Morning light and reflection take some beating!

Super Moon and Lunar Eclipse

I wasn't up that much of the night taking photographs to present the wonderful set of images Ann Miles has produced.   Still, I was out and about, with cold damp feet, capturing the time leading up to the Lunar Eclipse.   The timing of the eclipse coincided with a Super Moon or Supermoon, meaning the Moon was its closest to Earth and appeared large.   What I haven't gathered yet is why the Moon should appear 'blood red' when in the shadow of Earth.   I was pleased to have seen the phenomenon.   It is difficult to see stars around the Moon in these images, but they are there too!

Autumnal morning - Quy Fen

Quite a number of people were out this morning, enjoying a chilly, misty one.   Cobwebs are shown off to great effect if the sun is behind them, and what better way to get a sense of the activity of spiders!

The Evening Primrose plant is not in a usual place for something that domesticated, but this one is still in good condition and providing a vibrancy of colour among otherwise fading colours.
 

Cranes - Wicken Fen

A glorious morning for a walk on Wicken Fen, starting from the Upware end.   Again I delighted in  the experience of photographing some bird(s) at a considerable distance that proved to be of considerable interest!   This time it was a pair of Cranes which I heard before seeing - not that I was able to identify them by their call.  Identification came again by looking on the back of the camera!   I don't know whether Cranes have nested on Wicken Fen this year.

A play on words but the other Crane is an image of a Cranefly, or at least I think that is what it is called.

Feather on the Water

Although it was a lovely sunny morning there wasn't that much around on the wing.   I took the dogs down to Baits Bite Lock and walked in the fields on the east side of The Cam which have now been harvested.   This Mute Swan feather had been discarded during a preening session and was freshly on the water.

Dragonflies at Lazy Otter

I was not expecting, but did hope, to see a Dragonfly/flies this morning (because it was sunny) so was delighted to find three of two different species.   I'm pretty sure the first one is a Migrant Hawker and I think the other two are probably female Common Darters but one is more colourful than the other.  Might that one be a male Common Darter?

The final image is of the vegetation all three Dragonflies are on!   If I had the expertise I would put a white arrow on the image to point them out.   If anyone can see all three Dragonflies, do let me know!
 

 

Kingfisher and Grey Wagtail

There is always something exciting in seeing a Kingfisher, either perched or in flight.   There aren't that many pixels in this image, and it was a long way away, but had to be photographed!    At Bottisham Lock there was also a Grey Wagtail which I hadn't seen in the vicinity this year.   Perhaps it hadn't bred.

Bittern at Wicken Fen

I could have posted this image yesterday, but as I wasn't expecting to be able to take photographs today, I kept it until now!

It was very exciting to see a Bittern flying towards me, but initially I wasn't sure what bird it was.   First thoughts were that is was a Harrier, then it looked more like a Grey Heron and it wasn't until I previewed it on the back of the camera that I realised just what a special sighting it was.   The learning for me is always to photograph what you see just in case you would regret not doing so!   Next time it would be good to have light on its face but I'm not really complaining this time!

Wicken Fen

Going out on a sunny morning was a welcome change from the rest of the week.   It was fun watching a black Labrador launching herself into the lode sometimes after a ball but not necessarily.   Given that we have two Golden Retrievers who will only paddle it was fun watching the abandonment of this young dog and the enjoyment she was getting from the water.   Why won't ours take their feet off the bottom when they are in water?

This Small White Butterfly was in remarkably good condition for the time of year, and was one of the few butterflies to be seen.

A huge flock of geese flew over, making quite a din too.    They split into two groups after a while but still didn't seem to have a destination.   One can't help wondering where they came from and where they landed eventually.

Milton Country Park

From this single image it's clear it wasn't a summer morning, not only because of the angle of the shaft of light and the lingering mist, but the temperature was not that much above a frost!  

Last lot of Dahlias

I have kept the best, in my view, until last!

More Dahlias at Anglesey Abbey

Although these two postings of Dahlias at Anglesey Abbey will follow one another in the blog, I thought the discretion of offering them on different days would go some way towards keeping two different colour palates apart, if only marginally!   The yellow and blue ends of the red spectrum don't sit comfortably together to my eye.    The collection also shows just how subtle the introduction of a slightly different colour can make - AND how many reds there are!

Dahlias at Anglesey Abbey

It was lovely to have lunch with Clare and David today at Anglesey Abbey and venture out in between showers to photograph Dahlias.   They are not my favourite flower by any means, but their boldness of colour and complexity of structure can't be ignored when you see a display as fullsome as that seen today.   Those attending to the plants were pleased with this year's showing, but didn't think it was quite as good as last year's!   Depending on when the first frost comes, these plants could go on blooming until mid November.

 One of the gardeners alerted us to the Dahlia heads which had been put on the surface of the lode water near the mill.   They did look somewhat like water lilies, as intended.

Bottisham Lock

This morning's walk took us back to Bottisham Lock to see if there were any Swallows still.   None at all.   I guess they will have started their very long flight south to warmer climes.   Instead a few Wagtails were on the pumping station.  

Even on Sundays the polo ponies get exercised.

Sometimes the ponies are cooperative when being 'caught'.   It is still something of a challenge getting four ponies through a gap in the fencing though.   All the ponies in these fields seem to accommodate being in very close proximity to one another and don't appear to upset one another when being led around and ridden.   Only one horse is saddled up and the other three are taken round at the same time on exercise.