Willington

The drake Ring-necked Duck at Octagon Farm, Willington, is a cracker and showed nicely this evening.

Sadly, I could only muster a poor attempt at a bad record shot (see left). Shortly after we arrived it began feeding (must be a hungry migrant), then went to sleep - as ducks do...

After chatting to Steve 'Jungle Boy' Blain for a while, we dropped in at Willington gravel pits. I was a little surprised to find this female Grey Wagtail feeding a newly-fledged juvenile.


It gives me great displeasure to say that the best photos I took all evening were handheld shots of captive birds at a collection in Willington - through a chainlink fence. But just look at these rare beauties!

Male Lady Amherst's Pheasant x Golden Pheasant

Mandarins (the most numerous species by far)

Other species at this private site included Red-breasted Goose, Golden Pheasant, Eider, Smew, Goldeneye, Ruddy Shelduck, Bahama Pintail, Greylag Goose and, er, Indian Junglefowl.

digiscoped photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 77 with 20x eyepiece