Tuesday 31 January 2012

Monday 30 January 2012

Seasonal Splash (5): Bawdsey, More Winter Colour ...

The remains, I'm guessing, of the white webs of last year's Brown-Tail Moth caterpillars (Euproctis Chrysorrhoea) on Sea Buckthorn
We took a 'brisk' walk at Bawdsey on the Suffolk coast yesterday afternoon. It was too chilly to hang about for long . . . though milder than Philadelphia!
We saw a field of swans - probably Mute Swans, but they were a way off and so busy eating that I couldn't see their bills.
The light on the mere and by the martello tower was amazing. You can see at least three of these towers from this vantage point.
David took the photo above for me of Bawdsey Quay.
We really enjoyed watching the fly-pasts of skeins of geese.

The sunset was simply stunning!

We were really surprised to see two rafts of Mallard on the sea. Does anyone know whether this is at all unusual? Were they fishing, do you suppose? In any case, they suddenly took to the air . . .

... when a seal popped up! 

It didn't hang about, so we drove home for a cup of tea. 

Monday 23 January 2012

Seasonal Splash (4): Winter Colour ...

We took a stroll around Mistley Towers, part of a ruined Robert Adam church near Manningtree, UK . . .
. . . There were a lot of Mute Swans on the estuary foreshore.
Some were more interested in posing for the camera than others!
A portrait in profile.
These Shelducks were heading for home . . .
I think these are Bar-tailed Godwits  . . .

. . . and a Common Sandpiper, in late afternoon light.
We spotted a pair of these Greylag geese at the nearby Alton Water Park.
 January: 2012 bird species seen to date  . . .
  1. Pigeon (USA)
  2. Starling (Liberty Island, NY, USA)
  3. Egret (wetlands outside New York, USA . . . hard to tell which species, Great or Little)
  4. ?Red-tailed Hawk (NY, USA)
  5. Sparrow (Liberty Island, NY, USA)
  6. Mute Swan (Mistley, Essex, UK)
  7. Shelduck (ditto)
  8. Bar-tailed Godwit (ditto)
  9. Common Sandpiper (ditto)
  10. Carrion Crow (ditto)
  11. Assorted - but unidentified - gulls (ditto and rivers Hudson and Delaware, USA)