Yesterday was ideal for an afternoon of birdwatching with some photography thrown in. We were at the Wetlands and Wildfowl Trust's Welney reserve, near Ely.
Let's start with butterflies, although these pictures were actually taken a week ago, as no butterflies were so cooperative yesterday, even if they were around. This is a peacock butterfly:
And, in the middle of this image is an orange-tipped butterfly, with its wings closed, which shows just how well camouflaged it is:
And then it opened its wings to show off its glory. I especially like these butterflies at this time of the year:
Summer residents at Welney include cows, brought in to graze the land that is flooded in the winter, but which is a meadow in the summer. These were on a bank, appearing to be on the horizon:
At the special request of one reader, this is a second view of them by the drain that is integral to control of water in this area:
There are other imports, including pheasants:
Dominating what is called The Lady Fen are avocets, who are breeding in some numbers (and I am aware that I have pushed this image to its limits):
Other residents include tufted ducks:
There is also an increasingly successful black-tailed godwit breeding programme. This one was striding out to take on a herring gull that had appeared and was, presumably, threatening other eggs or chicks:
More familiar is a heron:
And then I noted this bullrush, which looks incredible in close-up:
It was one of a number:
Time out is necessary and worthwhile.
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In the photos of the orange-tip, is that possiby a second one just above it, behind the stalk? It’s (even more) inconspicuous, but has the green and white pattern.
I’ve been enjoying our local butterflies here – a pair of speckled woods joined me for coffee at the end of our garden yesterday.
I didn’t note it at the time, so I am not sure…
Nice Richard, nice!
Thanks
I really did push that avocet one in Lightroom
Have you read “The Lie of the Land by Guy Shrubsole”? I thought of you when I read the chapter about the Fens and the damage done by draining the land for agriculture. The peat is drying out, and the land is sinking.
Thank you for the lovely photos and I’m glad you had a restorative day.
I have not, but I know of it.
I was out in the fen this morning – there may be a few more pictures to come.
Any photies of the Often Spotted Westminster Goose Stepper?
🙂
Lovely pictures – the light must be tricky with those big skies and flat landscapes
My hoopoes have gone quiet – hopefully off smooching in a cozy corner, as the worm-feeding fol-de-rol is apparently courting behaviour (not convinced it will catch on, but whatever floats your boat). The nightingales have arrived en masse and are fluting and twiddling – I was out at 0400 and they were frankly deafening, even managing to shut down the Little Owls having a teenage rave up in the stand of oaks upalong.
I blame you for this newfound bird obsession, Richard. Good job 🙂
Nightingales. Brilliant.
Love the pheasant picture and the cows just enjoying the nice day!
Well done on these, especially the European Peacock butterfly and the Orange Tip – the latter in particular is hard to capture, though I have one zs my desktop background.
Thanks
Scroll down to “extra notes for foragers”, for a brief description of why the [great] reedmace, your pictures, is commonly misidentified as “bulrush”:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://totallywilduk.co.uk/2022/02/14/reedmace/&ved=2ahUKEwjXmfa6nZ2NAxUMQkEAHaf7PHUQFnoECCcQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2_0H4Px9d9IMHGOVjVAq58
Thanks
I did wonder whether I had that right…