Northern Gannets on Bass Rock, North Berwick, during August 2023

I spent a week in August at the Edinburgh Festival, but took a day off during that time in order to go on a boat trip to see the Northern Gannets on Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth at North Berwick.

View of Bass Rock from North Berwick

Northern Gannets and their young fluffy Guga on Bass Rock

Close-up view of three Adult Northern Gannets

Adult and young Gannets on the rock

View of Bass Rock as the boat is leaving Bass Rock and stops for a photo opportunity

Black-necked Grebe at Walthamstow Wetlands

 At the beginning of October my camera took me to Walthamstow Wetlands in the hope of seeing the Black-necked Grebe that had recently been spotted on one of the reservoirs.  We were unlucky during a previous visit a couple of weeks earlier, but this time we struck the jackpot!

The Grebe was on a fishing trip and I ended up following it along almost the whole length of the reservoir and managed to take several photographs when it was above water.  Fortunately, it was within reasonable distance for the range of my camera's zoom lens.

Eventually it turned tail and swam off to the other side of the reservoir - and out of my view!

Young fluffy Jay - photograph taken at RSPB Rye Meads nature reserve

I don't seem to get round to writing my blog as much as I would have liked, so have decided in the meantime to try at least to add a favourite bird photograph every so often.

At the end of May last year I went to RSPB Rye Meads nature reserve.  The visit was to try and see the Kingfishers that were nesting there at the time.  I had a long time to wait between the male and female Kingfishers popping out of the nest hole in order to take turns feeding, etc.

I was delighted that, during this waiting time, a gorgeous fluffy young Jay appeared on a Black Willow tree at the other side of the pond.  It stayed there quite a while and I was able to take several photographs of it.  I love it's fluffy feathers and comical face with black eyebrows and moustache!

Bird of the week - Cattle Egret at Lee Valley Country Park

On Saturday, my camera and I went for a walk in the Lee Valley Country Park, near Cheshunt.  The walk was run by the RSPB and more than 25 people attended it, which was rather a lot for a group of bird watchers.

We saw lots of interesting birds but, for me, the special of the day was a beautiful Cattle Egret skulking in the undergrowth.

The Country Park is huge and we only covered a fraction of it in the few hours that we spent there.  Now that I have been there with other people, I hope to go again on my own and also hope that I will not get lost!

Birds in Topsham and the Exe Estuary towards the end of 2019

In November I spent a week on holiday with my camera in self-catering accommodation overlooking the Exe Estuary in Topsham, Devon.  We had a great time going bird watching at the local nature reserve, on boat trips along the estuary and travelling around the edge of the estuary by train.

On my first day it absolutely poured with rain, so I could not take many photographs.  Fortunately, it dried up in the late afternoon so I visited RSPB Bowling Green nature reserve.  At that time of day a large group of Redshanks had flown into the reserve to roost.

On another day I took the train round the estuary to Dawlish, passing through Starcross on the way.  There I noticed that there was a fantastic view of the estuary from the station platform, which was right on the edge of the river.  On my return journey I got off the train at Starcross and spent an hour looking at the birds wading about on the riverbed at low tide before catching the next train back to Topsham.

Here is a Turnstone standing in a pool of water at the edge of some seaweed.

There were also a couple of Curlew wandering around in the wet sand.

In Topsham itself, at low tide, Avocets were feeding on the riverbed near the Goat Walk - a high concrete path that ran along the edge of the river from the edge of the town to the road that led up to RSPB Bowling Green nature reserve.

I went on several boat trips along the estuary, but hard to take interesting photos as the weather was very overcast and difficult to get the birds in focus from a moving boat.  Also, they tended to fly off when the boat came near to them.  I was lucky with this Curlew.

Just along the road from the house where I was staying there was a ferry crossing that only ran during the summer or at weekends in the winter.  I saw a Little Egret on the ferry ramp at the other side of the estuary.  When I downloaded the photograph onto the computer, I discovered that there was a Kingfisher perching on the ramp behind the Egret - two birds for the price of one!!!

When I turned round I saw that a Pied Wagtail had landed on the ramp behind me and was able to get some photos of it before it flew off.

On one of the several boat trips along the Exe Estuary, I saw a large Black-backed Gull.

A beautiful Little Egret was standing on the riverbed in front of the Goat Walk in Topsham on another colourless afternoon.

On my last morning in Topsham, and just before I left the house, a Mute Swan was swimming along the river Exe.  The little courtyard looked directly over the river, so I went outside and got a photograph of it just as it decided to fly away.  Here it has just started running along the water in order to take off.

The sun was shining as I walked along the road at the edge of the river with my suitcase and bags on the way to the station.  I came across two black swans that had been sleeping near the stone jetty.  One woke up, while the other still had its neck curled into its body - though still with a beady red eye on show.

The alert black swan stretched out its wing and did some yoga exercises as I was standing there.  What a lovely end to my bird watching week in Devon.

Blackbird sunning itself in the North Greenwich Ecology Park

During one of my visits to the North Greenwich Ecology Park in the summer I came across a blackbird that was sitting on the boardwalk.  It's beak was open and it was panting.  It was a very hot sunny day and I think it was trying to cool down.  I tried to stay still and take some photographs without disturbing it.  This did not last very long!

The blackbird could obviously hear the clicking of my camera and flew up into a tree and tried to conceal itself in the leaves.

I would assume that it would have been cooler in the shade of the tree than on the ground - so perhaps it was doing something else on the boardwalk?  Was it sunbathing?  I wonder!

Bewick and Mute swans in a flap

The sun was shining during my last walk around Barnes Wetland Centre and the two Bewick swans that live there were taking advantage of a nice day for a bath. 

Things were very calm in this photograph of both swans floating around in the pond.

In this close-up of one of the Bewick swans, water droplets thrown up by flapping wings can be seen.

They started having a lot of fun splashing around in the pond with their large wings extended and making a lot of noise.

In another part of the wetlands, the Wild Side, a young mute swan cygnet was having a calm time floating around in the water.

Then it too decided to open it's wings and have a good old flap.

Close-up encounter with foaming Great Crested Grebe

During my last visit to Hyde Park, which was at the end of May, a Great Crested Grebe was swimming near the edge of the lake. Usually when I see one, it is always in the centre of the water - so this was an opportunity not to be missed and I managed to take some close-up photographs of it.

It is a rather lovely waterbird and very handsome. I love the rust colour on it's head and, of course, it's crest.

It seems to be foaming at the mouth, however.

Does anyone know if this is a usual occurrence or is there something wrong with it?

Little Grebe on the lake in Kew Gardens

Yesterday I went with a friend for a stroll in Kew Gardens. We sat for a while on a bench right in front of the lake with an assortment of Egyptian Geese and Mallards asleep, or nearly so, at our feet.

I was intrigued by a little waterbird that was swimming around in the centre of the lake.  It was a Little Grebe.

 

It floated and swam around for a while and then swam off under the bridge and disappeared from sight. The reflection in the last photograph is from the unusual railings along the edge of the bridge.

2 herons in the Thames

On Saturday I had a very disappointing afternoon. I had decided to go for another walk in Battersea Park but, when I got there, I discovered that the park was closed because there was a motor racing event being held there on both Saturday and Sunday. The roads inside the park were being used as a circuit for electric racing cars and it was out-of-bounds for non-paying pedestrians. In fact, the park will be closed until at least Wednesday while all the barriers, video screens, catering tents, etc. are dismantled.

The only section of the park open for the general public was the pedestrian area along the river edge. Barriers had been put up to stop people from going into the rest of the park and large video screens that were showing broadcasts of the race could be just seen from outside. Some people had climbed the steps up onto the Pagoda that is in the centre of the river path and were watching the race for free from there. I did not bother to go up and look as it was very crowded and I was not really interested in seeing electric racing cars.

It was very noisy as the cars went past, but not as noisy as Formula 1, and I felt very sorry for the waterfowl with families that were stuck inside the park, as they would have been unable to fly away unless they left their young behind.

As I was there, I decided to walk along part of the Thames Path and look for wildlife. Right at the edge of the park, there were 2 herons in the river. They were a long way down from the path, but I took some photographs of them anyway - as I had gone out in order to take photographs of birds. I really wanted to see the waterfowl on the lake, but was denied the pleasure.

Perhaps these two herons lived in the park and had temporarily moved out in order to get away from the noise?

I think that both herons were looking for fish, but they did not catch any while I was there. The heron in the photograph below is paddling near the edge of the river.

I was leaning over the wall that runs along the pathway between the park and the river, with the herons at the edge of the River Thames that was way below me.

The second heron was either shorter in height or the water was deeper as it is up to it's tummy in the river.

In the photograph below, you can see how far away the heron is from me. The white flowers (Cow Parsley) are growing on the bank that is just below the bottom of the wall.   

The herons were really the only wildlife I saw on my walk - apart from one seagull and about three cormorants. They were in a dark area, so not worth photographing. There was a short shower while I was walking, but it did not last very long. I got as far as Wandsworth, then decided to get a bus back to Victoria. While on the bus, the heavens opened and it was raining very heavily when the bus reached it's destination. I had to run into a shop doorway and shelter until the rain eased off and I could get to Victoria Underground station.

Blackbird in the park

Another day in the park - Regents Park again.  I went for a long walk round the lake in the Outer Circle and round the pond in the Inner Circle.  It was sunny and slightly windy, so a bit cool at times. It wasn't quite so peaceful as usual as there was a tree surgeon with a chainsaw working on a tree by the bridge over the lake near the Baker Street entrance to the park.  When he was cutting through the trunk with the chainsaw, it was very loud.  By the time I left the park several hours later, there was hardly anything left of the tree except for a stump.  I didn't bother to take any photographs of the tree and the workman - I was just annoyed he was there.  I had my lunch on a bench by the water and every so often was disturbed by the noisy geese, which was OK, and by the sound of the chainsaw, which wasn't.

Just inside one of the entrances to the park from the Inner Circle, I heard and then saw a blackbird in a tree. He was after the juicy berries or seeds and I disturbed him when I pointed my camera at him.

He flew down to the ground and hopped around in the grass. Here he is standing in the grass, near some leaves, a discarded feather and some daisies and he is looking at me with his beady yellow eye.

He flew back up to the tree and posed quite nicely for a short while, before disappearing into the centre of the tree where he could no longer be seen.

Hooded Merganser in St. James's Park

In the early part of June, during one of my favourite walks in London's St. James's Park, I was thrilled to see a male Hooded Merganser.  At first he was preening his feathers.

Preening Hooded Merganser

Then he sat up and was looking intently at me as I was wobbling in a crouching position while trying to take photos of him.  I am no longer very athletic, nor ever was actually, and crouching is a dangerous thing for me to do.  I have read that photographers are supposed to get down low, even lying on the ground, in order to take good photos of birds - but I will never be able to do the lying-down thing!  Crouching is all I can manage and it is hard work standing back up again.

Hooded Merganser behind the greenery

Anyway, I was very pleased to see this rather unusual waterbird in the park.  I don't know if he was a wild bird or had escaped from a wildfowl collection as that is where I have seen Hooded Mergansers before - in the captive collections in Regents Park and the Barnes Wetland Centre.

Close-up of male Hooded Merganser

He has an amazingly weird shaped crested head, lovely black-and-white wing feathers and piercing yellow eyes.  What a magnificent looking bird!