Far Ings Nature Reserve

Far Ings NR is situated on the south-west side of Humber Bridge and is well worth a visit at an time of the year. It is particularly good for decent sightings of the Bittern and Bearded Tit. Although I didn't manage to catch sight of either bird today I did hear plenty of Bearded Tits hiding in the reed beds.

A rare sighting of a Weasel gave me my first opportunity to get some photos. I'd been stood very still for a while between two reed beds, hoping that whatever was providing the loud sing-song would pop-up and let me get a shot, when this fella appeared and ran towards me. I put the blurred images down to the effects of the heat haze ;-)

I stayed around in this location for a while longer and eventually did catch a couple of fleeting glimpses of the resident warblers. I'm not sure what they are though but I'll guess at Sedge Warbler (2) and then Reed Warbler? If anyone knows better please feel free to correct me.

 

Tree House Sparrow

The rest of the pictures were taken at the edge of one of the lakes from a hide.

Marsh Harrier

Common Tern

Coot

Little Grebe

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.

It's all Gone Quiet...

...at the nature reserve at Bretton Lakes. The birds have given up singing (barring the odd Robin and Wren) signalling the end of another breeding season.

This was my first visit for over a month. I didn't expect to see much so I decided to pay a brief visit to the hide before moving on to the inlet where I saw the four young Kingfishers on my last visit.

As expected there was nothing much showing on the lake but there was one expeption, the Little Grebes have returned at last. They didn't come close though so I had to make do with this long distance shot.

Young Coot.

One of the resident Great Crested Grebes swam quite close to the hide.

And then it was off to watch the young Kingfishers. I took up position in what's becoming my usual spot and waited. I once heard a saying that, 'It takes the woods half an hour to forget you are there' - this turned out to be true last time as the Kingfishers arrived right on cue.

No such luck this time though. How dare they stand me up?

I was on the verge of moving on when something flew in low and landed not twenty feet away on one of the fallen trees.

It wasn't a Kingfisher but the even more elusive (for me at least) Grey Wagtail.

It stayed around for a few minutes and I thought that was that. But then a few minutes later it returned with what I at first thought must be it's partner. They both looked a bit scruffy and I put this down to the toils of rearing the young. But after I returned home and uploaded the pictures I changed my mind. I reckon they are juveniles. They did look a bit on the small side and the scruffy feathers could be 'cos they aren't fully grown yet? Their breast feathers should have more yellow? Either way I was well pleased by their appearance. They stayed for quite a while too!

I'm not sure what it has caught but it did swallow it after thinking about it for a few moments.

When I headed home, well chuffed with the Wagtails I was meandering over a field when a Hare sprung up right in front of me and legged it, heading over a hill on the horizon. I threw the tripod onto it's feet and managed to fire off a few shots just before it dissapeared over the brow.

Even though he's moving away at around 40 mph his eye seems to be looking back at me!