Merry Christmas

 

Lodmoor Visit This Week

Another visit to Lodmoor Reserve this week on a cold and very dull day.

A favourite that regularly appears is the Common Snipe.

This one was showing quite nicely.

Golden Plover

Numbering several hundred, they are remaining on site for most of the Winter.

A lot of getting spooked, getting airborne and flying around and landing again on this occasion.

Much of the time the Lapwing were also being spooked by something and flying around. I couldn't see a Marsh Harrier in the vicinity so who knows.

Herring Gull (3rdYear)

Herring Gull (Juvenile)

Common Gull (Winter)

Herring Gull (Adult)

Amazing how they shake the water off in flight. Looks painful.

Robin

A bird that will feature on a lot of Christmas cards shortly.

Blackbird (Male)

A Few Local Birds

Images taken on one of the first cold days we have had at the beginning of December this year. 

Cloudy and overcast mainly.

Robin

Long-tailed Tit

Quite disappointed with these images of a Treecreeper. 

I only had a short and not very bright lens on a very dull day and this bird was high up in a tree.

Wren

Stonechat (Female)

Robin

Mostly Plover on a Cold Day

There is only a roadway and the shoreline between the Weymouth Bay and Lodmoor Reserve.

On a day this week when I visited the Reserve it was extremely cold and overcast. Most of what I was able to photograph was Golden Plover of which there is a large flock overwintering there.

Due to the extensive rainfall from 'Storm Bert' the water around the Reserve was very high. 

This obscured much of the landing and roosting areas of the Reserve.

Golden Plover and Lapwing shared much of the limited available ground.

Common Snipe were also very active searching for food and more easily visible than normal.

There was also a Jack Snipe reported, but I was unable to locate it.

 

Regular take off and landings by the various species made for some opportunity get these images.