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Thursday 31 October 2013

Parkland Walk

General observations from a recent Parkland Walk.
A windy day and the clouds were moving fast and furious which eventually led to a nice clear blue sky.


The odd Comma butterfly is still hanging on at this time and finding food on old blackberry fruit.


Below is a great spot for viewing the Kingfisher, but you have to wait a while.


There is still some colour around in the form of a variety of flowers, although some are past their best.









Not easy to find or photograph this Jay was searching amongst the foliage of an oak tree for acorns.


A male Chaffinch keeping out of the wind……..


……….. as is this Robin.


A Dabchick (Little Grebe) observed at the same spot above where the Kingfishers perch.


The first Redwing I have seen this autumn and he is feeding on yew berries.



A Dunnock flew to this spot below from cover, only to disappear again quickly.


A healthy looking Rabbit.


I am always amazed and take a particular interest at the way birds, especially larger water birds like ducks and geese fly and manouvere themselves in the air.

I was able to take this sequence of four shots below of a Mallard as he was approaching over a bridge to land on water.  You can see where the original aircraft designers got some of their ideas from.

Note the webbed feet acting as the first flaps to slow his approach down.


Then he lowers his tail down to really apply the big brakes.


He is now happy with his approach speed with the correct trim for gliding…..


……and he continues with a little correction to the tail, in that trim until landing.


Two more Dabchicks, in open a water this time.


Below is the open water where I observed the two Dabchicks.


36 comments:

  1. Een heerlijke plaats om te vertoeven Roy,wat is de herfst toch mooi het is genieten als ik zo met je mee kijkt.

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    1. Thanks Nic. De herfst heeft plotseling kouder nu hier.

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  2. Another lovely series of shots Roy and it's good to see that some flowers are still blooming in your neck of the woods :-) The Mallard series is fantastic :-)

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  3. Lovely photos of a bright autumn day. It looks a great parkland walk - and with a Redwing, too! I'm still waiting to see one this autumn. And I love the incoming Mallard!

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  4. The days may be starting to turn drab and grey but, as your excellent set of images show, nature is still hanging on in there and is still putting on a beautiful and colourful show.
    You've captured some cracking images here Roy...[;o)

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  5. What a lovely walk! Your pictures are exquisite, esp. the duck on the wing. Wow!!

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  6. Hi Roy, a lovely series, the first Redwing, great! Nice birds overall but I like the duckpicture very very much, funny with the feed spread etc. and a wonderful blue sky. Gorgeous blog!

    Regards,
    Marianne

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  7. Beautiful work. Especially, love the mallard photos.

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  8. What a great set of photos of the mallard coming in to land! Lots of other lovely ones too especially the dunnock on the rosehips, these seem to be really good this year.

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    1. Thanks D. Yes its definitely been a 'Mast' year.

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  9. Hey Roy... Enjoyable post full of a great variety of photos, and the best is the Mallard landing!!
    Perfect landing shot's giving a show of the way it is done , and comical too!

    Grace

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  10. WOW, that was quite a promenade!
    Your landing duck is a superb series on its own!
    I am amazed how all these pics fit more in summer than in autumn... Is the season late where you are?

    About the Painted lady, you must be right... since this species flies year round in its residence countries, the latest generations born in Europe fly back to Africa. The "parents" can accomplish only a one way migration.
    It is the case for dragonflies, you can read this post if you are interested:
    http://odonatas69a.blogspot.fr/2013/10/dragonfly-migrations-case-of-green.html

    Cheers, Roy, enjoy your WE!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Noushka.
      I will read up on that link. Cheers.

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    2. Thanks Roy for your links!
      That confirms that the return trip is made but the following generations born in Europe!
      Quite interesting!
      Have a great day!

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  11. I love the photos of the duck preparing to touch down!

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  12. We have been very lucky, still lots of colour about and your photos look great, would not know it's November.
    Out hunting for Fungi to day came across a flock of Redwing 15+ but very skittish could not get a photo, hope we have some dry weather this weekend.

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    1. Thanks Amanda, not sure about dry weather doesn't look great at the moment.
      Redwings are difficult to get near. My best shots have been from a car window in the past.

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  13. That pic of the Jay twisting its head to reach out the acorn is super stunning, Roy!!!
    Bhusha's INDIA TRAVELOGUE

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  14. It is a great photo!
    I like the photo of the rabbit.

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  15. Roy, what a nice walk you took us on! I love the dab chicks and the robin! Thanks for the landing lesson. I LOVE the rose hips against the blue, blue sky!

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  16. Beautiful and long blog Roy,
    beautiful views and beautiful birds.

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  17. The year before we had an irruption of commas. I don't know if I saw one this year.

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    1. They have been pretty common this year Steve and the population is on the increase here.

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  18. Great duck shots! Love the birds in the trees with the berries, too. You still have a lot of flower color.

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    1. Thanks Mary, yes but not for much longer now.

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