Wildlife at Home, the Wetlands and Lakeside Park

I had meant to publish these images on my last post, but I felt that it was already getting pretty full. We have had goslings at Lakeside Park for a few days now. They are so cute and fluffy and they do have the ability to make people stop in their tracks to take a photo or two on their cell phone or camera. I am no different from anyone else in that respect, but it seems that every morning I am given better photos, so here are my best and cutest so far. After their breakfast, this group of five goslings huddled together and were soon joined by their mother who snuggled up to them and then covered her goslings with her wing for safety as they took an early morning nap. Not to be outdone by the goslings at Lakeside Park, we also have cute ducklings. The warbler migration is now in full swing, and that can be attested to by the numbers of birdwatchers and photographers who are also migrating to Lakeside Park and who are at times outnumbering the warblers. It is good ...

This morning started with a beautiful golden sunrise that lit up the tops of the trees and slowly descended to the lake. It unfortunately did not last and was soon eclipsed by a grey sky. Undaunted by the poor light, I set out with an agenda; to photograph some of the migrating warblers that are still passing through Lakeside Park. I set off, up the side of the lake, following some yellow coloured warblers which were flitting through the undergrowth. I took any opportunity I could to photograph what I saw on the way: There were lots of hickory tussock moth caterpillars, fattening up on the remaining leaves: A catbird sat out in the open for a few moments as I passed through a clearing: And at the top edge of the lake, I again saw the merlin on its usual vantage point, watching for any unwary birds: It was a failed effort on my part. As soon as I saw a warbler and raised my lens, it was gone. I decided to make my way back to the parking area and the fir trees besid...

I thought I'd missed my chance this morning. With the sun not quite clear of the trees on the far side of the lake, what sunlight there was on the opposite bank (where I was) was streaming through the gaps between the trees in shafts of golden light. A fallen tree trunk lay across the warm glow of one shaft and on it, landed a catbird, beautifully lit. This was the perfect opportunity. I raised my camera, took aim and turned the dial to focus on... the dead tree trunk. The catbird was long gone and I was left with the thought of what might have been a beautiful photo. The most distinctive thing about the catbird is not its appearance, which is grey with a smudge of black on its head, but its song which is glorious. It was the following of that song which led me to this photo. I then felt that I had, in some part, been gifted the photo which I'd missed out on earlier. In the light of the morning sun, that mundane catbird looked stunning: It is simply impossible not to tak...