Friday, 5 April 2019

Patch Birding

Saturday started off misty and gloomy, but I still went out armed with the camera. This sort of weather is never conducive to nice pictures.
In the gloom, I picked out a pair of Mandarin ducks on my local flooded field. Initially I thought it may have been a Garganey, with the white over the eye, but as it swam out of the mist it was clear it was a male Mandarin. Never mind, a year tick all the same.

Female (left) and male Mandarin

There was a very vocal group of 75+ Fieldfares. I was surprised that they were still around, but pleased to see them once again before they head off to their breeding grounds in the north.

One of the most vocal birds of the morning was the Wren. They're very active at the moment and they make it easy to see them at this time of year. 



27 comments:

  1. Good to see so many Fieldfare Adam. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

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  2. Hello, great birds. The Wren is a favorite, very cute! Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend.

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  3. Very beautiful shots of the Wren! One of my favourite birds ever!

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  4. I've experienced so many of those dreary days lately. It's not fun to know there's great birds out there & the lighting plays havoc with photo results. But a mandarin duck!! How I envy you seeing such.

    For all your sharing, I and we at I'd Rather B Birdin' send our thanks!!

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  5. It's good you found some returning Fieldfares in April. They have away to go yet for Scandinavia.

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  6. ...lovely images of the little Wren!

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  7. Excellent photography of our 'feathered friends' ~ quite the colorful Mandarins too!

    Happy Days to you,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  8. Nice photos of the wee wren and all of the other wildlife. You certainly got some great views of them.

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  9. I love the Wren, all three are beautiful shots Adam.

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  10. The Wren is one of my favorites...such a musical bird! And I love the fog and mist for your first photos. The lighting sure makes a difference! Enjoy the week ahead!

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  11. what a thrill to see the mandarins, i am wondering if that is a common duck in your area. i would have a heat attack and die if i were to see one!!

    the wren pictures are beautiful as well!!!

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  12. Water birds don't mind a bit of mist. Nice shots!

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  13. It is nice to see the birds around. The loudest is the smallest.

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  14. I like wrens a lot and enjoy seeing them although it’s hard to understand why they want to nest on the ground..I wouldnt if I could fly )). Sweet you got to see so many fieldfares. Not at all a bad birding day for a misty one and good pix too in my opinion!

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  15. never a failure if you see a mandarin duck.

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  16. How innocent the birds look like.

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  17. Nice photos here.
    Thanks for sharing this week at https://www.melodyjacob.com/2019/04/thank-yourself-i-want-to-thank-me.html

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  18. I am always amazed by the beautiful birds we see here along the Gulf Coast of Texas.

    Thank you for sharing these.

    https://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2019/04/a-new-coffee-shop-in-town.html

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