West Mere, Wicken Fen

A couple of days ago I saw a Glossy Ibis for the first time and have included a couple of images below - but they are not good.   I went back to West Mere Hide again this morning in the hope that I might just see it without reeds between the Hide and me.   It wasn't going to show itself at all!

 I saw behaviour in a Black Headed  Gull (BHG) I hadn't seen before - it catching a fish which also attracted the attention of another BHG.   A quick bit of research suggests that BHG rarely catch fish, and if they do, the fish is either dead (which I don't think this one was) or it is a sick fish.   As to what sort of fish it is I wouldn't venture to guess!

 Any suggestions as to the identification of the duck would be appreciated.





















Quite a sizeable splash for quite a small duck!

Sunset 11 October

I was glad I had my Sony RX100 camera with me when returning from General Meeting in Shudy Camps.   The sunset was full of strong colours and I found myself creeping home via almost every lay-by in an attempt to capture the range of colours to be seen that evening.   The camera also has the facility for panoramic photographs, as seen on the last image.

Full Moon and Night Shot

I shalln't be in a position to photograph the actual full moon tomorrow night so took some images tonight while the weather was clear of most cloud.    The forecast for tomorrow suggests it could be raining at about 19.00 too.

Research Park - 5 October

It was cold overnight and in the morning we had, I think, the first frost of the autumn, and a surprise for me was the mist which was moving around one of the lakes, and hanging in one of the lodes near the Research Park.

As the dogs got warmer and puffed more on exertion, their breath was in greater evidence in the still cold air at about 08.00 this morning.

I hoped I could have had a look from the hide to see what waterfowl was around on another lake, only to find the door is locked.   Surreptitiously I crept round the corner of the hide only to startle all the bird life which was on that smaller lake!   Panic, panic.......... but they started to return before I left the Park.

Research Park - 4 October

Before getting round to posting yesterday's images from a morning walk on the Research Park, I went again this morning to find a different atmosphere.    More of that in the next posting.............

The fields have all been harvested and now there's the ploughing in advance of the next sowing of seed.   This plough with a fenland sky is typical of the scenery at this time of the year.

The building of a new warehouse and two more office blocks has started recently and a number of trees have been brought down, including willows.   I did check whether they had a home for the logs - 'yes, one of the directors will be having those'.   Never mind........

I disturbed a heron on one of the boardwalks.   I only had a compact camera with me but was pleasantly surprised how well this photograph came out.  I also disturbed a kingfisher but that won't be believed as I don't have the photographic evidence!

These mock sails are a symbol of the Research Park I think, and quite attractive in a good light.

Birds seen on the Lazy Otter walk

I have seen more Kingfishers this summer/autumn than ever before, but fewer Kestrels.   The Kingfisher was at a considerable distance and extremely well camouflaged in the reeds, but a photograph had to be attempted!

What a wonderful display of wing and tail feathers from a Kestrel when it is hovering.   This one was expending a considerable amount of time and energy hovering and quartering without finding anything to pounce onto.

House Sparrows are also much less common than they used to be;  in fact they are something of a rarity these days.

River Great Ouse near Stretham

Not for a long time have I walked from the Lazy Otter to Stretham Old Engine (a steam driven engine used to pump water off the land into the River Great Ouse) and back, but have done it a couple of times recently.

It was a misty morning and the images below record the landscape and farming activity.   There is quite a community of people living on boats at each end of the walk - different types of boats though.   I was interested to see the curios which were around the boats at the Stretham end.   Perhaps I shall notice more on the next visit.

On the north side of the river were several tractors engaged in the harvesting of potatoes.   The main tractor was trailing a machine which dug up potatoes at its front end and at the back end had a conveyor belt which was filling up tractor after tractor with very fresh potatoes.   A potato was in a tractor on the A10 (holding up traffic) within 10 minutes of having been dug out of the ground!   I had thought those sorts of time scales were the advertising point for garden peas.

 There was an enormous expanse of solar panels in a field on the south side of the river;  allegedly another form of farming?

Swans in the mist on The Cam

It was another very misty morning and this time I went down to The Cam at Clayhithe and walked upstream.   There was virtually no movement on the water so some positive reflections.   Even though the Mute Swans were only a matter of feet away, such was the intensity of the mist that it could be seen between the Swan and the bank.

Yes, I am working on 'white' as a photographic theme!

 Couldn't resist photographing this cow which was also enveloped in mist.

Milton Country Park

This morning was the first which made me think that Autumn is round the corner, despite the forecast talking of some sunny, warm days ahead.

It was the mist which held my attention and so I took the dogs to where there was likely to be mist hanging over water.   There were also some magical cobwebs with 'jewels' hanging from them, and shafts of autumnal light - a lovely time of the year.

Wicken Fen - early afternoon

Few birds to be seen, although a skein of Canada geese flew over and caught the sunlight.   It is always a joy to photograph some Swallows, even if they were not on the wing - easier that way!   Glad they are still around - at Cockup Bridge.   Jays are seen in the garden but not that often and this one was remarkably close to the house - perhaps a young one and not yet fearful.

Was able to photograph some Dragonflies but on very busy backgrounds.  Still, the blog is for shots that record the walk rather than attempts at 'perfect' images - although those would always be welcome!

The first two Dragonflies are the male and female Migrant Hawkers, and the last one is a male Southern Hawker - I think.