Just another Mallard

With good light, everything looks better and more colourful and nothing beats a bright sunny day.
Even the mallards get me looking back twice to enjoy the beautiful colours on the males head. So vibrant but sadly overlooked quite often. I even managed to get some ok flight shots of this particular duck.

Fallow Deer - Tatton Park

I made a return trip to Tatton Park the other day. This time in search of the Fallow Deer. There were plenty around, but it appeared that the main part of the rut was now over for another year.
There were a couple of stags sat together in the long grass looking rather sullen and past the point of caring. While in the distance a larger male was happily strutting his stuff amongst his harem.
They were really quite difficult to see when they were sat in the long grass. Perfect camouflage.

A couple of Red Deer having a chill.

Grey Wagtail

I love to see the Grey Wagtail when I'm out on my birding jaunts. This little guy was busying himself around the edges of a reservoir in Macclesfield. It's looking a bit rough around the edges and a little scruffy. No doubt from a busy time feeding the young, as these was taken back in the Summer months. Please come back warm Summer evenings.

Greylag Geese

The Greylag goose is a pretty common goose and I must say a little uninspiring when you walk past yet another one on your walks. However, at Martin Mere I thought I'd try and make them a little more appealing by taking some more interesting pictures. Flight shots are always good, so that's what I tried to. I had varying success, but it made me look at this goose in a different light (so to speak).

Just going for a paddle.

New Brighton beach was very calm when I visited a few weeks back. The tide had just gone out and the sun put in a nice long appearance too. It allowed me to take a wander along what is very nice sandy beach. There wasn't a great variety of birds but those that were there looked very nice indeed in the sunshine. They included this Oystercatcher and some juvenile gulls having a paddle. I'm not great with gulls at all, but I think I have a couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a larger Great Black-backed Gull (on the left).

I think this is a 1st Winter Oystercatcher, as the white collar would indicate.

Great (left) and Lesser Black-backed Gulls (Please let me know if I am wrong)

Curlew - Titchwell

I'm fortunate to live in an area where Curlews frequent during the summer months. I love to hear their babbling call as I'm walking around. Quite a distinctive bird with that long curved bill to help it dig out its prey of worms and shrimps. It is Europes largest wading bird, and I look forward to them coming to my back yard once again next year. In the meantime I'll have to visit the coast to see some more like this one below at Titchwell in Norfolk

Wigeon

Martin Mere held plenty of Wigeon last week. A colourful medium sized duck. The numbers increase here in the winter as the birds move south from the colder areas of Scandinavia, Russia and Iceland.
They make a comical squeaking noise which puts a smile on my face while I'm sat in a hide.

A little bit windswept, or slept on it funny. Not sure which.

Must have heard me and wasn't happy. Oops