Bretton Update

It was the height of summer the last time I was at Bretton but today had a very welcome Autumn feel to it. The weather was perfect - sunshine, not a breath of wind and a seasonally cool 12 degrees centigrade when I arrived this morning. Not that it would have mattered if it had have been raining and blowing a gale as I'd taken the day off work so it was playtime!


I headed straight for the hide where I was pleased to see that the Little Grebes are still around. There was little else to photograph though...

...apart from this rather strange looking Mallard/Teal? I'm still not 100% sure but surely the beak it too short for a Mallard?

After leaving the hide I had a look at the spot on the lakeside where, during the spring/summer I'd had some good opportunities to photograph Kingfishers and Grey Wagtails. It was far too dark today though. The angle of the sun has changed and it has 'sunk' below the canopy of the trees. I'll have to wait a few months for the trees to shed their leaves before using that site again.


Its been ages since I'd seen the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker at the far end of the lake so before heading for home I decided to have a wonder down there. I was only stood for about 10 minutes before this little fella arrived. Unlike their larger relatives these birds don't seem to keep still for longer than a second but I managed a few shots before she scarpered.

Bretton Update

The excellent weather got me out of bed early and I was at Bretton Lakes by half past seven. It was a bit cool but there was bright sunshine and not a breath of wind - perfect conditions for photography.

I decided to visit the nest site of the Goldcrests which were featured on here a few blogs ago. It was all very quiet though with no activity around the nest. Have they abandoned it? Not sure - they did both turn up before I left which was encouraging but surely the female should be sitting on the eggs by now?

The only Lesser Spotted Woodpecker I've seen to date was last year at Meltham in Huddersfield. I knew they were around at Bretton but they'd eluded me up to now. I was quite pleased to break my duck this morning. I'd only been stood in the area where they were rumoured to be for about 5 minutes when this one turned up.

The bird life down at the hide seemed much the same as usual until I noticed that a couple of pairs of Greylag Geese had arrived. This isn't a rare event but they don't usually stay around for long. There was no difference this morning as all four of them departed before I left.