The sun shone and the early morning coolness turned into a scorching hot day. I headed north to Barnes. I had limited time as I'd promised Mum I would take her to Findon Sheep Fair.. (we went, it was packed, we came home...)
I espied Norman in the car park and later I met up with Rosemary (great to see you again!) with Chris and Anne. Later on I was to come across Corinna, and also to meet (for the first time) Wendy and Duncan, and also Ian. Good to meet you guys 'in the flesh' so to speak.
We were after Dragons - and were rewarded... dozens (literally) of Migrant Hawkers about.
Whilst standing and watching, this Great Spotted Woodie flew up into the tree. Pity it didn't choose to come 'my' side of that branch!!
Dragons!!
From the Wildside Hide... a Grey Heron cooling!
Black-headed gull in reflection
And on leaving the Wildside Hide I noticed a Little Grebe...then heard several squeaky cries..
'Hang on' thinks I, 'What is the bump on the back of the Grebe?'
Ah... 1 little grebe chick!
Oops no... 2 little grebe chicks!
Oops no.... 3 little grebe chicks!
They were tiny and could only have been a day (or two) old...
food time (and another of those annoying bits of reed!)
Wandered back towards the visitors centre, in time to see the Otters.. There are four females but I could only get 3 in shot at any one time.
Around the 'other' side, a very large dragon... still trying to ID it!
and finally, on the way out, about 11 Marsh Frogs.. remarkably quiet basking in the lunchtime sun!
The traffic going home was..... awful! But didn't detract from a rewarding morning....
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8 comments:
Nice shots Tricia, couldn't make it there today, spent dawn at Richmond Park though, superb light and mist! Your dragonfly is an Emperor I think.
Oscar
My goodness Oscar, that was quick :)
Thanks for the ID, I thought it might be but wasn't sure....
Great to meet you today Tricia. Your blog is really good. Will save it to my favourites.
Wendy
You had quite the finds!!! Lovely shots. I especially love the otters!
Super views of the dragons .. all my sightings today were 'on the wing'.
Hi Tricia,
Amazing shots of the otters and little grebe chicks! I visited the centre this weekend with my boyfriend and he also got some photos of grebe chicks on their mum's back: http://adventuresinbeeland.wordpress.com/2012/09/09/nothing-hotter-than-an-otter/.
I hope it was not the same set of grebe chicks, as we only saw two :(
Emily
Hi Wendy... you made it! thank you
Rohrebot...thanks.. the otters are cut!
Fran - thanks and good to hear from you again...worth a visit to LWC?
Emily... Regrettably you may well be right. I know others have said, seen 3, then 2, then 1... sadly! Drew got some very natural shots of the otters :D
Trying to catch up again with my favorite blogs. Fantastic dragon shots. Those little chicks are too cute for words and the otters....one of my favorite animals. Gotta love those frogs, super creatures.
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