It’s been raining all day, or as they saying goes ‘it’s been good weather for ducks’. So to celebrate the fact, here’s a short sequence from Wednesday at the pond.
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
Today was one of those strange days where I seemed to spend most of my time not really seeing anything worth photographing, but was lucky enough to have a small handful of encounters that more than made up for the down time. The star turns were a heron, a buzzard, and a welcome re-appearance in the garden by Bully Boy, the young fox. I’m going to stick with the buzzard for this entry, partly because I like the shots, but also because it’s the first time I’ve seen them share air space with flocks of swallows and house martins.
I’m not entirely convinced the smaller birds were mobbing the raptor but with so many young fledglings around they may have been more than usually defensive of their patch. If they were mobbing, their technique is rather less confrontational than the full-frontal attack mode so often adopted by gulls and corvids.
Now for the photos… (click on the image to enlarge)
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
The morning was a literal washout, with heavy rain putting pay to any thought of getting out with the camera. It brightened up a little later on, but the day was a quiet one with little to draw the camera.
The ducks were at the pond (as they would be). This little white duck is a firm favourite, but tends to stay a little away from people.
rather more sociable is this Muscovy. A relative newcomer to the pond, I’m certain it is a domestic duck. Whenever it sees people it wanders up to them ‘wagging’ its tail feathers! Here he is peering into the camera.
I’d all but given up hope on finding anything unusual to photograph and was scanning the darker fringes of the pond when I spotted a rare visitor. It was a grey wagtail, which locally at least, are much less common a sighting than the very bold and numerous pied wagtails. The grey is rather more colourful than its name suggests and sport a bright yellow rump and tail.
I’m hoping for some better weather as we head into another Bank Holiday. There’s a chance of heavy rain on Saturday, but beyond that the forecast looks good and we may be in for another mini heatwave (or at least a second dose of summer).
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
