A lovely day - bright and sunny, but very cold. Unfortunately, the water level was very high, which meant that many of the birds were very distant, especially at the Ouse Washes reserve, resulting in some rather distant shots. To compensate for this I managed to get the usual close-ups of the wildfowl in front of the main hides at Welney (all the other hides were inaccessible).
Close Whoopers
There were a few Bean Geese there - distant but unmistakeable.
The Beans were amongs at good number of White-fronts, seen distantly here.
Whoopers on the approach path.
As ever, the Whoopers bullied the Bewick's Swans, which meant that there were very few of them on the reserve, and the ones that were there were some way off. This photo illustrates the size differential very well.
The dominant duck in front of the main hides was the male Pochard.
Pintails are one of my favourite ducks, but again they did not deign to come very close. This was the best I could do.
Good views of Tree Sparrows on the bird tables at the Ouse Washes reserve.
This Great Spotted Woodpecker flew to and fro around the visitor centre and we saw it on at least half a dozen occasions.
A few Wigeon came close up but most were on the far side of the flooded washes.
There were not many Gadwall about, but this pair obliged, allowing quite good photos.
Close Whoopers
There were a few Bean Geese there - distant but unmistakeable.
The Beans were amongs at good number of White-fronts, seen distantly here.
Whoopers on the approach path.
As ever, the Whoopers bullied the Bewick's Swans, which meant that there were very few of them on the reserve, and the ones that were there were some way off. This photo illustrates the size differential very well.
The dominant duck in front of the main hides was the male Pochard.
Pintails are one of my favourite ducks, but again they did not deign to come very close. This was the best I could do.
Good views of Tree Sparrows on the bird tables at the Ouse Washes reserve.
This Great Spotted Woodpecker flew to and fro around the visitor centre and we saw it on at least half a dozen occasions.
A few Wigeon came close up but most were on the far side of the flooded washes.
There were not many Gadwall about, but this pair obliged, allowing quite good photos.
