Trees, Eurasian Teal and Little Egret in Rheidol Valley and Ynys Hir nature reserve, West Wales

I am afraid I am still on catch-up with my blog posts - I've got lots of catching-up to do!  Now I am at the end of March when I went on holiday to Gwbert, near Cardigan, in West Wales with my sister, brother-in-law and a couple of friends.  We stayed in a great self-catering house with picture windows overlooking Cardigan Bay.

On the day after we arrived, Saturday, we went on the Vale of Rheidol steam railway that runs along the edge of the valley between Aberystwyth and Devil's bridge.  At the station I saw this gull promenading along the opposite platform.

The view from the train was really lovely.  There were lots of bare-branched trees so we saw more than we would have done had we been there in the summer when the leaves would have been blocking our view.

There was a river running along the bottom of the valley, which could be seen through the trunks of the many trees that lined the route.

The sun was shining and there were lots of rolling Welsh hills in the distance.

In one section of the valley there was a large reservoir that was bordered by a wood along one side.

I have to say that the view from the railway line was very spectacular during the whole journey.

Here there is a waterfall running down from one of the hills on the opposite side of the valley.

At Devil's Bridge we stopped for a while as the steam engine was uncoupled.  It was moved along the track to the other end of the station before travelling back along the second rail to the front of the carriages ready to be rejoined for our journey back to Aberystwyth.

We are now on our way back along the railway line.

After we got back to the house, in the late afternoon, my sister and I walked to the end of the cliffs in Gwbert.  There, below us on the rocks, were three oystercatchers.  Unfortunately, they were some distance away so I could not take a very clear photograph.

On Sunday we went to visit Cardigan castle, which is very small and not really worth photographing as it is more-or-less just a rebuilt manor house, with very little of the original building left.  It was very hot and sunny so we decided to go for a walk on Poppits Sands.  Here we saw a man with a trotting pony and colourful blue cart/trap.  The pony was trotting backwards and forwards along the beach and in the sea.

Later the same day we went to the RSPB nature reserve at Ynys Hir.  Here I saw this male Eurasian Teal.

 And this female Eurasian Teal.

There were several male and female Eurasian Teals swimming around in one of the lagoons. 

I also saw this white Little Egret which, unfortunately, was in the distance and so I could not get any clear photographs of it.

It was moving along the water's edge at quite a speed, paddling with it's big yellow feet.

I hope to soon post more news of the rest of the week's wildlife spotting, which includes red kites at a feeding station, domestic Cayuga ducks, group of Wigeon and another Little Egret in the Teifi estuary.

Water birds and reeds at Rainham Marshes nature reserve

On 21st March I made another visit to Rainham Marshes nature reserve.  Unfortunately, the weather was not as good as was forecast - being overcast and rather windy - but I did manage to see some wildlife there.  Most of the birds were too far away for any decent photographs, but at least I have got some memories from the pictures I did take.

Here a lapwing is flying near the ground and probably coming in to land.

In this photograph there are two lapwings far away in the sky.  This is the nearest I got to capturing them high up.  They were flying so fast and wheeling around all over the place.

 There were large areas of reeds, blowing in the wind.

There was a sign of Spring with fluffy buds on this shrub. 

From one of the hides a group of male and female wigeon could be seen in the distance.

In this photograph there is an Eurasian teal standing at the edge of the water.  His turquoise markings stood out in the low light.  This photo was also taken from inside the hide.

There was also a lapwing at the water's edge.

Here a Eurasian teal is swimming along in the lagoon.

This is photograph of a wigeon swimming in the lagoon.

This is a female northern shoveler duck.

And, finally, a little grebe.

Mid-March blossoms, birds and Red-crested Pochards in Battersea Park

In mid-March, on 15th, my camera and I went for another walk in Battersea Park.  It was a lovely day and the sun was actually shining.  The trees and shrubs were looking lovely with lots of early Spring blossom.

When I first went along to the lake, I saw some Red-crested Pochards.  This is a female.

This is a male Red-crested Pochard.

Lots of Cormorants were sitting in the tops of trees that edge the lake.

At this time of the year most of the trees did not have any leaves.

At one side of the lake coots were causing mayhem by fighting one another, completely ignoring the disruption they were causing to the ducks and geese on the lake and the pigeons on land.

Here I saw a rather lovely hybrid Mallard drake.  He was larger than the normal drakes and had a brown body.  Does anyone know what sort of cross-breed he is?  If so, please let me know.  I have also seen similar Mallard hybrids in other parks.

Here the hybrid Mallard is swimming along with a female Mallard.

A pigeon on the bank has photo-bombed this photograph of the hybrid Mallard.

In this photograph the difference between the larger hybrid Mallard and his friend, a normal Mallard drake, can be clearly seen.

The two Mallards were travelling in convoy with the female Mallard.

Across the lake, on the island in the centre of the water, a Heron was having a yoga session, presumably drying it's wings.

Further round the lake I came across a pair of Gadwalls - female at the top and male at the bottom of the photograph.  They were in the distance and swimming along with their beaks in the water, gathering up food.

Another waterbird in the distance, as usual, was this Great Crested Grebe.  It had been fishing and there is something in it's beak - probably a small fish.

Back round the lake, more-or-less where I began my walk, there were more Red-crested Pochards.  I love their funny hairstyles and their red eyes and beaks.

There were also some Tufted ducks.  In this photograph there are a couple of them - brown female at the front and black-and-white male at the back of the picture.

After my walk around the lake, I walked along the path then runs along the edge of the river Thames.  I could not resist taking a photograph of the historical brick tower and water pumping station in Pimlico/Victoria and the modern glass Shard that is quite a long way away in London Bridge.