Psilos
Bird Journal |
Saturday March
11th 2006 |
||
"Skeins
and swans" |
||
 |
||
A very grey day today but as
it was fine I decided to go out locally to Moses Gate Park. Blue skies
broke through for a little while but the sun didnt seem to penetrate
far and still everything looked rather flat and lifeless. The only oasis
in such a desert of grey where the many patches of bright white snowdrops
that lit up many of the shady banks. |
||
 |
||
As per usual there were plenty of swans around. There are two pairs that breed on the lake at the back but the non breeding birds are only tolerated on the main lake. I like the photo above as it shows three generations of Mute swan. A juvenile from last summer is on the left with a second year bird in the middle and an adult on the right. To get to the main lake you have to walk from the carpark that is below it. As I was walking up the path a mute swan stuck his head up and I couldnt resist taking his photograph. |
||
 |
||
| Beyond the main group of swans
I noticed a pair of swans that seemed inseperable and were totally uninterested
in following the masses who followed anyone who had bread to offer.
Watching them feed together they looked so intimate. They look
to be adult birds but I wondered if maybe they have bonded for their
first time this year and will later go and find somewhere to breed.
Photographing them I couldnt resist showing them in the classic
swan pose. |
||
 |
||
Today there were lots of canada
geese on the move and twice two big skeins flew in. I doubt these geese
have come far and probably have a few local areas of water that they
visit. |
||
 |
||
 |
||
Tried yet again to capture
Coots running and flying over the water. Exposure and focus are not
that difficult but with these birds the trick is getting the light to
fall in just the right place to show all their features. With this journal
I intend to show sometimes not only my successful photographs but also
those that do not quite make it in order to show some sort of progression
in what I am trying to do. With the coot below I saw him flying towards
me low over the water. My focus locked on fine but the photo below fails
as you cannot see the eye. The head and especially the eye are mostly
(with a few exceptions) the life and soul of bird photographs and without
it the photo will lose alot of impact. Oh well better luck next time! |
||
 |
||
There were only two birds of
any real interest on the lakes today. One was a single adult great crested
grebe which, although is not a rare sight is very rarely seen on the
water here. The other was a pair of call ducks which although have been
there a while gave some good views today. The call duck is a domesticated
bird bred from the mallard which is bred for showing. It is highly variable
in plumage and is smaller than the mallard. It also has a very high
whistle when it calls. These are wild birds. The photo below shows the
female. The male is a slightly darker version of the male mallard. |
||
 |
||
Took a walk over to the feeding station. My young son was with me today so we had a look in the shallow pools to see if there was any frog spawn but it seems that the frogs havent started yet. The kingfisher was also no where to be seen. I havent seen him for quite a while now. Maybe they are spending more time now over by the nest site on the river. The birds at the feeding station are very timid and as usually happens when I arrive they all fly away and refuse to come back. There were plenty of tits and greenfinches around but only a lone coal tit that graciously stayed on the feeder to eat his nut allowed me to photograph him. Oh well beggars cant be choosers! |
||
 |
||
