The sign below is accurate in every way - having sailed at Redesmere during the Summer, I vividly remember the immense amount of goose poo floating all around us...
Onto more pleasant things! Such as this beautiful female Tufted Duck I spotted amongst all the mallards and coots:
Despite the huge numbers of coots mostly involved in frenetic swimming and diving, this one caught my eye for the restful state it seemed to be in - I've never seen a coot meditating but if I did I reckon it would look like this:
Moments later it snapped out of its reverie for a bath - I managed to capture the water as it broke over its head. Not the sharpest of shots, but I was struggling with low light which meant using a slower shutter speed than I would have liked:
The other abundant species at Redesmere is Black-Headed Gulls:
I admit I can see why many people aren't fans of gulls, scavenging through our rubbish for food when they're not busy grabbing it right out of a freaked-out kid's hand. But the fact is, they only behave this way because of us - they're animals, acting on instinct, and if we put all this food and rubbish out there, then of course they're going to go for it!
Anyway, that's it for today. I had to leave shortly after this shot was taken as I was wearing the wrong gloves and literally could no longer feel my fingers.
I did spot and manage to capture a female Goosander before I left though. Couldn't get a great shot as she was too far away, but I had to post it anyway:
Goosanders are not the most common of ducks, so I'm always quite excited when I see one - quite apart from the fact that they are quite stunning :)
Hope you enjoyed the first of my Winter series! Off out in a mo to do some more - gotta make the most of this December sunshine, as I'm sure it won't last...
No comments:
Post a Comment