WE ARE NOT ALLOWED OUT , SO I AM MISSING MY TRIPS WITH NATURE GREATLY, BUT I'VE GOT LOTS OF IMAGES FROM YEARS AGO SO I HAVE TO MAKE THE BEST OF IT.
I really feel cut off from the outside world but with how our police are operating it's really not worth attempting to get out for a birding trip as fines are being handed out and from what I read they are threatening to take away your license for a year if you are caught driving out of your area for no good reason, I have also been warned to be careful with my blog and[ Facebook which I cannot be bothered with anyway] as they say the Police are scouring these sites to see who has been out birding or anywhere they shouldn't have been and fines will arrive through the post, but to be fair we are all supposed to be staying at home in an attempt to drive down the numbers of new infection cases which today exceeded 40,000. Its starting to get to the stage of last one out turn off the lights and lock the door. These are really very grim and dark days and our death rates are by far the worst in Europe. I'm afraid the idiot factor has got to learn and stay at home.
RUTLAND WATER 26TH OCTOBER 2017. LYNDON RESERVE.
A trip out to Rutland Water after the Ospreys were long gone but well worth the visit, would love to visit today , but never mind. Anyway I doubt if I would make it to Waderscrape Hide with my gammy knee.
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Great White Egrets Manton Bay. |
This pair having the start of a tussle on the far side of the bay near the Osprey nest. 340 metres.
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Osprey Nest, Manton Bay. It won't be long before the cameras will be back in place and these amazing birds return to the nest site , but I think it will be another season without monitoring duties. |
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This one fortunately a considerably amount closer. |
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Great Crested Grebe, Waderscrape Hide. Always plenty about and fun birds to watch. |
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Greylag Geese Eyebrook Reservoir 26.10.17. A goose we see in large numbers at Eyebrook all year. |
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Little Egret, Egleton Reserve, Crake Hide. Always a hide I like to visit as you get some birds really close. |
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Cormorant, Crake Hide. Always fascinated with the green eye. |
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Grey Heron, Crake Hide. Just managed to catch the bird as it flew in. |
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Wigeon, Crake Hide. We get large numbers around the reserve. |
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Gadwall, Shoveler Hide, Lagoon 3. Another duck that arrives in reasonable numbers. |
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Male Smew, Sandpiper Hide, Lagoon 4. A duck at the top of my list, this is a long distance shot but I remained in the hide and he slowly came closer. |
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I Think other than a Mandarin Male, this is my favorite duck. |
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Shelduck, Sandpiper Hide , Lagoon 3. A bird I tend to see more at Reservoir. |
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Snipe, Lagoon 3 , Sandpiper Hide. Hiding in amongst the reeds. |
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Wigeon, Lagoon 3 , Sandpiper Hide. A bird that arrives in reasonable numbers. |
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Northern Pintail, Lagoon 3, Sandpiper Hide. Another favourite of mine. |
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Using tail as a counterbalance whilst feeding. |
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Shoveler Duck, Lagoon 3, Sandpiper Hide. |
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Shoveler Drake, Lagoon 3, Sandpiper Hide. Thank you for your visit, I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I did when getting the image, hopefully soon I will manage to get out and get some new images but until then, it will have to be all our yesterdays. |
Absolutely stunning are beautiful birds, the Smew is a blinder, and, Little Egret, it is beauty, so close up. John, have a new one christmas present?
ReplyDeleteHi Bob,
DeleteThe male Smew is one of my favorite ducks, no new kit for Christmas, thanks Bob
Stay safe and well
John
Smew may be under-rated by some, John, but not by me! Given the choice to see any new (for me) duck in the world Smew would be my choice. I wouldn't have to think about it for a moment. My word, your lockdown provisions seem to be pretty draconian, with the police preemptively checking your on line activity to ascertain your movements. George Orwell must be laughing quietly to himself. Big Brother really is watching. It must give licence for people to snitch on each other too. We can only hope that by the end of the year things may be back to normal. Please! Take good care. All the best to you and Veg. David
ReplyDeleteHi David,
ReplyDeleteI would never underrate a male or female Smew, the Red Head is also well worth seeing. I'm afraid how people have been acting in the UK, the Police have had to become much tougher in the approach to the lockdown rules and we are still getting reports of stupidity in the community, this virus has been out of control in the UK and something needed to be done. You and Miriam take good care and stay safe, lets hope we can all forget these awful times and some normality can return.
Our best wishes, John and Veg
Hello John,
ReplyDeleteA fine selection of pictures. The Heron shots are very good. Keep away from the idiots and stay safe.
Mike.
Hi Mike,
ReplyDeletepleased you enjoyed your visit, Herons are always a good subject. We are keeping well clear of the idiots, you do the same and stay safe.
John
Hello John, what great photos in this serie. Amazing birds. We are also confind to stay close to home and are discuraged to cross the border. But we can still travel inland so I go to my favoriet nature reserves in Belgium. Lets hope the vaccins will do their job to give us some protection against this virus. Take care.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Roos
Hi Roos,
DeleteW e ae well and truly locked down and discouraged from travelling, so that's my reasoning on this post to use old unused images, it keeps my interest but not the same as getting out with nature. We are all putting our faith in this vaccine, as you say lets hope it does its job and protects us.
You and yours stay safe.
John
hello John
ReplyDeleteamazing what selection of ducks you can see, very nice
Greetings Frank
Hi Frank,
DeletePleased you enjoyed your visit, just wish I could get out with nature.
You stay safe
John
Hi All
ReplyDeleteHere are the two links for the meetings on Sunday.
The first one isn't a meeting as such, it's more so we all know what we're doing techno-wise for the AGM meeting if any members attend. Plus we can have a catch up chat.
The second link is for the AGM so we'll need to log off and log on again.
I've not recieved any members interest in attending so it might just be us.
(I've recieved apologies from Garry as he can't attend)
If you're not sure about Zoom, you'll need to download the Zoom app to your pc/tablet and register. You'll then just need to logon using the links below at the appropriate time.
Hope that all makes sense.
Enjoy the rest of your day
Lesley
Sunday 31/01 - 13h
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87360767060?pwd=TTloNlprZ2ozK1JZemxmSUVaak9Edz09
Sunday 31/01 - 14h
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85770866230?pwd=cHdGMlNVVGNlODBOQzE3Q3l0N0xsQT09
Beautiful serials John, I do love the Skew, it is brilliant.
ReplyDeleteHi Bob,
DeleteThanks Bob, Smew is a real favorite of mine
Stay safe,
John
Amazing collection of birds John, and I am very grateful that you have identified them. Thank you :) Good luck with the lockdown. Sounds as though it is very strict over there. My English relatives and friends tell me the same thing. All for the greater good I suppose. We are still self isolating ourselves and travel through blogs such as yours. Can't thank you enough for sharing as it keeps us going. Stay happy and healthy and all the best.
ReplyDeleteHello Denise,
ReplyDeleteGood to hear you are both still well, it has been a pleasure for me putting the post together even though they are old images, they all bring back fond memories of better times, lets all hope they return with the vaccine. I have had my invite letter for the jab but have not as yet got a date. I think things in the UK needed to be tightened up and lets hope the cases start to drop.
You both stay safe and well, its very hard to stay happy.
John
Hello John, good to hear you are on a vaccine list. We are too but it could be a long time before we get a call. We will just keep going and do the right thing to keep everyone safe. Take very good care of yourselves over there, wishing you both good health and happiness :)
DeleteHi Denise,
DeleteI had my first jab last Wednesday, hope yours will not be long, all you can do is to carry on as you have been doing, we are being so very careful and with the help of friends doing the shopping, we are staying fine. You all likewise take care and stay safe and well, you and yours have good health.
John
Espectacular reportaje invernal, me ha encantado. Estamos viendo por aquí alguna águila pescadora invernante, igual son tus amigas. Un fuerte abrazo desde el norte de España, mantente a salvo amigo mío.
ReplyDeleteHola German,
ReplyDeleteMuy contento de que haya disfrutado de su visita, espero que tenga suerte en encontrar un sguila pescadora quehiberne, no pasara mucho tempo antes de que dejen Africa y se dinjan al norte y lo passen. Un gran abrazo desde el centro de Iglaterra, te mandtendras sano y salvo.
John
Hi John,
ReplyDeleteno, we have nowhere to go and trips to further areas are also not an option for the time being. That you are going to do it with images from your archive is also not wrong.
I love these water birds and I especially love the little egret. It's nice to see these different herons and also the ducks. This is really enjoyable.
Stay safe and healthy.
It takes a while but there will come a period when we can "get out" again ;-)
Greetings, Helma
Hello Helma,
ReplyDeleteThese are such grim times, we could all do with some time with nature, but its not to be for sometime yet, I am preparing another archive post, that's all that's possible at the moment. the one positive thing of the week, I have had my first vaccine.
You and yours stay safe, and we will all be out again in the future.
John