Brrr

Holly




Cow parsley?


Male Bullfinch

It's still literally freezing here. There hasn't been enough sunlight to melt the snow off the trees, so everything is still snowy-white. Life must be hard for small birds, especially.

Finally caught up with the Hawfinches at Ferry Meadows. At least two birds were present, including a male which showed particularly well in the trees above our heads. A procession of dog-walkers and joggers kept flushing the finches from their food source (presumably some seeds on the ground somewhere) and into view.

It was useful to hear the birds' call again, which reminded me of Grey Wagtail, for some reason...

digiscoped photo taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece

'sno fun when it's this cold

Male Bullfinch


Female Bullfinch


Water Rail! (not bad for an action shot?)


Railtrack

There's no disguising the fact that there was next to no light at all today... Some more snow overnight had made everything look very pretty, but taking photos was hard work. Hence the poor standard of the images above.

The Bullfinches seemed unusually confiding. They allowed quite a close approach as they fed on seeds close to the ground. The Water Rail was good fun. It fed busily in some waterside vegetation before legging it through the snow across the footpath - which led to the photo of two of its footprints...


Snowy teasels


Snowy umbellifer

digiscoped photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece

A sprinkling of snow...

rosehips


leaves


berries


twigs


nettles


sycamore leaves


lichen

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995

Dullness

Teal


Black-headed Gull

Walked all around Ferry Meadows in hope of finding some redpolls to sift through, but didn't even manage a Siskin or a Bullfinch. Pretty poor stuff...

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece

Remember when it was warm and sunny?

I hate it when it says '100% cloud' on the Metcheck weather forecast. So here's a look back at some of this year's insect photos.


Marsh Fritillary, Andalucia, Spain, 22 May


Hummingbird Hawkmoth, Andalucia, Spain, 23 May


Four-spotted Chaser, Woodwalton Fen NNR, 30 May *


Large Red Damselfly, RSPB The Lodge, 23 June


Six-spot Burnet moth, Summer Leys LNR, 17 July


Musk Beetle, Woodwalton Fen NNR, 28 July


Hoverfly sp, RSPB The Lodge, 9 August


Banded Demoiselle, River Nene, 28 August *


Small Copper, RSPB The Lodge, 12 September


Comma, RSPB Minsmere, 20 September

digiscoped photos* taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece

Sunday morning fishing on the River Nene

'Think there might be something tasty in here...'


'I'll take a closer look...'


'This is my river!'


'Now, where was I?'


'Success at last!'

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece

Putting the decorations up

The spiders have their Christmas decorations up already...


Needles


Catkins


Brambles


Bracken

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995

Wintry leaves

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995

Ferry Meadows Country Park

A 'celebration' of the Black-headed Gull:









Gadwalls performing nicely on Lynch Lake






... and Tufted Ducks on Gunwade.


The best kind of red-eye (on a drake Pochard)


Grey Heron on the meadow of the same name


Woodpigeon dozing in an oak tree




Lesser Redpolls eating seeds (rosebay willowherb, I think)


Autumnal leaves... in winter




Goldfinch fodder

digiscoped photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece