I popped over to the local dew pond today. The conditions weren't ideal, with a low mist hanging in the air for most of the day. The goldfinches didn't seem to mind though, and a pair of them were happily taking a lunchtime bath. Now these are not the most common of pond life, but they do enjoy splashing around in the water and adding – quite literally – a splash of colour to their environment.
There are a couple more shots of these in the April Birds album, along with another shot of the kestrel flying past yet another building.
That was this morning. This evening I got round to taking some more shots of the tadpoles. I haven't photographed them for a few days and they are at that 'fizzing' stage, when the surface of the water is all shimmer and bubble. They are also harder to see, and are now breaking away and disappearing into the depths (or at least some of them are). There's still quite a healthy number on the surface of the pond.
In this next shot take a look at the pale tadpole on the left.
More of these guys in the Amphibians album.
I'll put up some more trail cam footage soon. The camera is working (I had a problem with the data card, now replaced), but I've been trying out some new locations in the garden to add some variety, not always successfully. But I persist. Always 😉
Camera note: all goldfinch shots taken with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. The tadpoles were taken with the Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro and EM-140 DG ring flash, manually focused.
gdare
4 Apr 2009Do they like to bath in dust like sparrows sometimes do? Nice photos, red and yellow are so bright 🙂
SittingFox
4 Apr 2009Marvellous shots of the goldfinch bathing. Such pretty birds 🙂
That pale tadpole is most interesting. I wonder if its colour will change as it grows older.
Ukwildlife
4 Apr 2009excellent photos. The colourless tadpole is pretty interesting. Its almost see through
Words
4 Apr 2009Adele, thanks. They're a pleasure to watch when they're like that. They were there last year as well. It's tricky keeping tabs on individual tadpoles, but I'll see if I can spot what happens to it :whistle: There were a few like that.
Words
4 Apr 2009Neil, yes that tadpole is intriguing. There seem to be legs (?) growing near the rear of the tail, though somehow I'd expect them to emerge nearer the body, so I could be wildly wrong about that.
Words
4 Apr 2009Thanks Wulpen!
Words
4 Apr 2009Hi Darko, I've not seen goldfinches dust bath, but I don't know whether that's just because I haven't seen it. Their colours are so vivid aren't they.
Wulpen
19 Oct 2012The shots are marvellous…..and excellent….