Wednesday 2 April 2014

MARSH LANE AND BRANDON MARSH.


Monday lunchtime I went down to Marsh Lane to try and see the female Garganey reported that morning on the car park pool.I find most female ducks tricky to ID so I checked in a guide before I went but that was unnecessary as I met up with 3 top midland's birders in the car park (Andy,Glen and Dennis) and I joined them in the river pool.

The duck was soon located and it was fascinating listening to these guys checking it out.Needless to say I was unable to contribute to the discussion.It took a fair time but in the end it was ID as a female Teal.Here are a couple of shots of it.






Tuesday morning I met up with a couple of friends at Brandon Marsh and we soon spotted a Treecreeper along the bridge path to the Baldwin hide.I'd seen one there on my previous visit but had I learned that it's gloomy there and you need to up the ISO if you want a decent shot.Of course not. I just rattled off a few shots like a complete clown and ended up with loads of blurred images.Here's a few that weren't a disaster










As we left the Baldwin hide path we were told that the only decent bird showing from the hides was a Water Rail from the Carlton hide.








After having a cup of tea we went looking for Warblers.I wanted some Blackcap and Willow Warbler shots but drew a blank.I didn't take any more shots of the Chiffchaffs that were showing well but when I saw one having a tiff with a Wren I ended up with one of those "What could have been" shots where with a bit more skill/luck I could have ended up a very interesting shot. 




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