Marsh Tits, Long-tailed Tits & Dalmatian Pelicans

to view a gallery with more photos, click here

On Sunday afternoon I visited Arundel WWT for the first time in ages. A pleasant walk around the site led me to a favourite spot - the woodland feeders. Not the usual numbers of birds, but good views of a Marsh Tit, Long-tailed Tits, Blue Tits and a Robin. A Gold Crest flitted quickly among the yew branches hunting for insects and I managed one shot of it. The Dalmatian Pelicans were sitting in their usual area outside the aviary.

Blue Tit, Cyanistes caeruleus

Goldcrest, Regulus regulus

Long-tailed Tit, Aegithalos caudatus

Marsh Tit, Poecile palustris

Robin, Erithacus rubecula

the aviary

Dalmatian Pelican, Pelecanus crispus

An Admiral in Houghton Forest

to view a gallery with more photos, click here

It was sunny Monday so  I decided to take the camera for a walk in Houghton Forest. It was like a Spring day except for the lack of greenery. I saw one Red Admiral which circled around me then disappeared into the jungle. A buzzard flew overhead, I spotted some fungi and covered two miles.

no doubt which way to go

crusty fungus

Hazel, Corylus avellana

Southern Bracket fungus, Ganoderma australe

Southern Bracket

Coastal Creek Aviary

to view a gallery with more photos, click here

On Tuesday I visited Arundel WWT and was very impressed with the new Coastal Creek Aviary. It is a giant walk-through aviary with 7 species and a diving tank which had a pair of Scaly-sided Mergansers using it when i was there. Great for photographers as you can get horizontal shots on the surface and underwater. The Arundel Lagoon Project is ongoing so nothing to see on the main lake. An obliging juvenile heron was fishing in the pond near the Sand Martin hide. It tried to swallow a large fish and had to let it go. I'll get some shots of the Dalmatian Pelicans next time.

Scaly-sided Merganser female, Mergus squamatu

Scaly-sided Merganser male

Harlequin Duck, Histrionicus histrionicus

Long-tailed Duck female

Pied Avocets, Recurvirostra avosetta

Redshank, Tringa totanus

Spectacled Eider female, Somateria fischeri

Spectacled Eider male

Grey Squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis

Water Forget-me-not, Myosotis scorpioides