Psilos Bird Journal
Sunday September 17th 2006
     
"Misty moments "
     

 
It is a relatively bright morning so I head off early to look for the kingfisher. Half a mile from the reserve I round a cornor and my heart sinks for I am faced with a wall of fog. Doffcocker is situated at the foot of the hills and the fog was well and truely settled.
     

     
Fog creates a very different atmosphere. A lack of wind and men fishing over the other side meant sound was bouncing all around. It was quite surreal. A first scan of the lake shows up two non breeding swans. With a lack of a male bird around this is intereting. The female however did not seem to think so and confronted them very defensively. Shortly afterwards they took off. Flying down towards the end of the lake they disappeared. The sound of their wings amplified as they turned and flew back they way they had come. Out of the fog they appeared and I was almost caught up in the updraft of wind from their wings as they flew straight and low towards the hills.
     

     
On the mud flats the snipe are back. Snaipe can be seen in large numbers here in the winter but today there are only four birds. A juvenile heron is also fishing nearby. A rewarding site as here they are very wary indeed.
     

     

Back down the other side of the lake and once again I find the juvenile Great crested grebe. This time though he is asleep and does not appreciate being woken up. Watching me very carefully he begins to fish but after catching little yesterday he changes tactics and decides to fish out on the open water well away from prising lenses. This is another day that I am not going to get my shot!


As I sit watching the grebe swim haughtily away my ears pick up the sound of geese honking to be followed seconds later by a small flock appearing through the fog to crash land very close by. There is something totally magical about watching this.
 
 
Foggy conditions doesnt have to mean that you cant take photographs. It just means you have to take advantage of what conditions are in front of you. The bright rippleless water created some lovely effects though at times it did create some strange colours.
 
 
 
Sadly I didnt see any kingfishers today and the house martins have also moved on. It wasnt long before the sun finally reached the lake and the fog very quickly lifted. The whole character of the place changed and the magic was broken so I decided to head for home.