Toulouse geese in Exeter

I spent Christmas in Exeter and had a great time watching the Toulouse geese on the river Exe, which I visited several times.

On my first visit, a few of the geese were swimming along the river.  Below are three of the white geese.

There was a mixture of white and brown/grey geese in the water.

My next visit was in the morning on Christmas Day, when I came across a number of the geese waddling along the towpath at the edge of the river.

 I loved this pair of geese standing at the water's edge.

A group of the geese wandered across the path and waddled over the edge of the bank and into the water.

Two of the white geese marched across the towpath.

This small group spent some time admiring the grassy bank at the other side of the path.

This large brown Toulouse goose looks as though it is preparing to hold the carol service later in the day at Exeter Cathedral.  The young Herring gull looked rather bemused at the whole gathering and stared out across the river.

I love these large fat geese waddling slowly along the towpath.

This photograph shows a close-up of the head and neck of one of the geese.  I think it actually looks rather pretty!

This white goose has attitude!

Then the geese decided they had done enough waddling around and they all got into the river and swam off.

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.

Bird walk in Wetlands of the World at Barnes Wetland Centre

Last November I spent many hours wandering around the Barnes Wetland Centre in London.  It was a cold sunny day and part of my walk was in the Wetlands of the World section of the site where the non-native birds are kept.

I was fascinated to see what I presume were the courting antics of male Hooded Mergansers.  The drake at the front of the photograph kept nodding his head and raising his beak into the air.

There were several drakes and just one female.  She was quietly dozing and taking no notice of the antics going on around her.

This is a young Bewick swan that was swimming around with a companion in the pond.

There was a light-coloured Egyptian goose standing on the turf wall at the edge of the Bewick swan's pond.  It was not very keen on me being quite so close.

It looked down at the ground and then jumped off the wall and ran away from me.  Funny how I seem to get that reaction from most of the birds that I manage to creep up to!

In another section of the centre I came across this large Black Spur-winged goose, which I believe was a fairly recent addition as I had not seen it on previous visits.

 Resting in the sunshine was a Fulvous Whistling duck.

Not far away a pair of White-facing Whistling ducks were having a very friendly preening session.

They were standing with a large group of other White-faced Whistling ducks.  Amongst them was one Black-bellied Whistling duck.

These are a couple of Hawaiian geese (Nene) that were also enjoying the winter sunshine.

A group of Emperor geese were enjoying a swim in a nearby pond.

Also swimming near the Emperor geese was a Barnacle goose and a Red-breasted goose.

Early December birdie walk in St. James's Park, London

On a sunny day in early December my camera and I went for another wonderful birding walk round the lake in London's St. James's Park.  It is very easy for me to get there - I either walk from where I live or just travel for a few stops on the Underground.

Although the sun was shining, it was a very cold day and I had frozen fingers after a few hours in the park.  Here are some of the waterbirds I saw that day.

A couple of white Ross's geese on the bank stand out from the mega-crowd of Coots on the lake.

 A Rosybill fascinated me with it's black head and, obviously, it's rosy bill.

Here two Shelducks stand on the bank with a pigeon ball (it was washing) and Moorhen in the background.

This is another view of a Shelduck.

 Black-and-white Smew drake in the background and Red-crested Pochard in the foreground.

  The sunlight shows up this Red-crested Pochard's red crest.

Here a Red-crested Pochard is liaising with a female Tufted duck.

The sun shone brightly on this Ruddy Shelduck, showing off it's white and green secondary feathers and black tail. 

This Ruddy Shelduck was marching along the small stones at the edge of the lake.

A Barnacle goose was hoping for some food from the park's visitors.

 I don't actually know the name of this breed of duck.  It was much smaller than the other ducks on the lake.

These two Bahama Pintails were preening and cosying-up together.

 I loved this female Hooded Merganser with her scary hair-do.

This photograph shows the amazing difference in size between the tiny Hooded Merganser and a huge Greylag goose.

For me, no walk in the park would be complete without a sighting of at least a few of the eight black swans that now live there.  I think that this is one of the original residents.

These three black swans are definitely part of the five that flew in from Hyde Park some time ago and have made St. James's Park their home.  Note: the swan on the right is trying to bite the neck of the central swan - what a bad bird!