A short visit to LWC at Barnes

Just a quick visit to Barnes today and my - was it hot!! Most of the birds were in hiding but managed three Little Ringed Plovers from the WWF hide which was nice.

As I drove into the car park a crane greeted me - a very large crane! This was being used to lift two structures over into the reserve to become part of the two new areas that are being developed. This structure is a sewer pipe (unused I hasten to add) which is being added to the project sponsored by Thames Water.

Once over, it nestled amongst the greenery looking very much more inconspicuous. I understand it will house an exhibition when everything's complete.

Further around, a Wren was singing away in the sunshine.

A young coot was keeping cool..

and I then came across a family of Little Grebes. Only Mum and Dad were on show and they were busy diving for food for the family.

Most of my shots were like this!

But eventually one stayed still long enough..

Further around in a different part of the reserve this young Little Grebe was very much more on display!

Pyramidal Orchids (just the three) hid amongst the grasses on the path verge.

and this seed head caught my eye.

Then, just as I was coming back to the visitor centre about to leave, I came across a family of Tufted Ducks. These little ones move at such a rate of knots...

Just managed to grab a shot as it dived - how they stay under the water is amazing - they're so tiny and light!

and there it was - gone!

After surfacing it shook its head ..

before having a preen..

Nice to watch all these youngsters learning how to do things.

Visiting Leonardslee Gardens - for the very last time!

My daughter has a birthday on Friday and she's celebrating by going away for a couple nights with a few friends. Consequently, we went out for the day today by way of an early birthday celebration.

We went to Leonardslee Gardens in West Sussex. Sadly, having been in the Loder family for some generations, it has now been sold to an International Businessman who, at present, has no plans to open the gardens to the public. It closes in 7 days time on 30 June.

The gardens are beautiful and amazingly so in the spring when they are alive to the dazzling colours of azaleas and rhododendrons.

I have posted quite a number of pictures but as it's the last opportunity......

The bird life was mostly Greylags and Mallards.. although Black-caps and Chiff Chaffs serenaded us on our way around the gardens.

The Animal life is Wallabies! They've been there for many years and I suspect that now they will be rehomed (my surmising only!). For the first time I saw large areas that were fenced off in which the wallabies were roaming. Normally they have the freedom of the gardens.

Which some still have! We rounded the corner to see this little joey. Don't know who was most surprised - it or us!

Mum was keeping an eye on us and after we passed by she shot off in pursuit of her youngster.

Many damsels and quite a few dragons. Considering this is the hottest day of the year so far, it's bringing them all out! This Broad-bodied chaser being one of them

(I took this with a Sigma 18-50 lens and it's been heavily cropped. Hadn't got the big lens with me!)

Rather like this young couple..

And the gardens!

We had a lovely lunch and then sauntered back out via the garden shop. I like the colours in this glass garden ornament.

There's a permanent display of Victorian carriages.... those were the days!



Finally we left and met my grandson coming out of school. Given the heat we decided an ice-cream on the beach was called for.... excellent.

A really great day out in the best company - thank you :D

I do hope the new owner appreciates these marvellous gardens, lakes, woods and wildlife and will, one day, open it to the public again. It's such a shame that we will no longer be able to enjoy these.

Catching up with Devon's birds

My apologies as my posts are all over the place at the moment; currently just catching up with the final Devon holiday post and then......

As regular readers of my blog will know, when I was in Devon a couple of weeks ago I mentioned the birds on the premises. Where I was staying was a Victorian Farm House (now occupied by our hosts) and two converted barns. We are right out in the middle of the countryside with our nearest human neighbour about 1/4 mile away.

The bird life was great. Many of the normal garden birds were regular visitors and the usual Swallows were nesting. About 6 adults I saw but the nests were still being attended and I believe they were eggs at this stage - no sounds from the nests at all. Our hosts have some cats and it was always apparent when they were in the "yard" as the Swallows would dive bomb the cats - who, in turn, weren't the least bit bothered by this.

As I mentioned in a previous "holiday" post - we concluded that there were 2 sets of Spotted Flycatchers. A pair had taken up residence somewhere near our barn and occupied the gate opposite and the nearby trees.

Richard had put up a nest box following a nest being made on top of an old oak fence post (propped up in the wood store), so the Flycatchers would have something "safer" in which to nest. For a couple of years nothing happened until this year when a pair successfully laid 2 eggs.

BUT the MEGA bird of the holiday was a visiting Hoopoe!! Di had kindly emailed me in advance and I'd hoped it would still be around when we visited - it was!! I heard it on 3 mornings and saw it one one morning. It was very early (about 6 ish) when I heard it and crept out. It flew from the tree in which it had been calling; perched briefly on a dead branch of a tree and then flew down the lane. Off I shot but when I arrived in the lane it was to see the Hoopoe disappearing into the fields beyond. So - no pictures but very much a lifer for me :D

A few pics.

Mostly the weather was dull and grey which didn't help when taking pictures of distant birds!!

These two, a male feeding a female I think, we our regulars and am sure were nesting somewhere very close to our barn.

Photographically horrid but just liked the content :D

They would always occupy the same perches and this was in one of the nearby oak trees.

BUT - over on the other side of the property, this is where the other pair were nesting in Richard's nest box.

Just gone in...

a quick turn around...

and a snuggle down keeping the two chicks warm..

On another evening when the sun was acutally shining I managed to get a couple of shots as one of the adults came back to the nest. They always perched in the same spot, but it was only in the sun for a very brief time each evening.

And on a day we had sunshine!! one of "ours"...

and just so the Swallows don't feel neglected..

I didn't get many birdy pics around the farm mostly because of the weather. But it was wonderful to have Spotted Flycatchers as neighbours and wren nesting above our doorway :D

Hear's to another year....