Swan Lake

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Cormorant - Am I bovered?

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This is a picture taken last year B4 work started work on the pit. I spent 25 minutes creeping up on this bird; stopping to take pictures every footstep just incase he flew off and I did not get a shot. Between the nettles, brambles and mud, I thought a 20-minute belly crawl was going to be worth the effort to get a good close up picture. Eventually I was crouching at the base of the tree where he was sitting. I was at this time covered head to toe in camouflage netting – and mud!

Once at the foot of the tree, and with my heart in my mouth, I quietly congratulated myself about my 'stealth crawl' and fieldcraft skills. Once I had taken 20 or so shots, I felt it was ok to come out of hiding, and stood up to leave, rather than crawl back. (I decided that another 20-minute crawl on my belly in the mud and nettles was beyond the call of duty). As soon as I got up, I expected the bird to shoot off and so kept the camera at eye level to see if I could get a departing shot… The bird took no notice of me whatsoever! It could have at least had the decency to acknowledge my presence!

To this day, I am convinced I wasted 25 minutes being stung, scratched and muddied, stalking a bird that was both deaf and blind! – Am I ‘bovvered’? Actually no, I got some great shots and an afternoon I will remember for a long time.

That’s just one reason why I don’t want Roswell developed. Every picture I take, and every memory I recall, just confirms to me that it is a special place, and should be protected for this and future generations.

If you feel the same, please ensure that you join the LCPRE campaign group and become a member. Its aim is to be the largest membership organisation in Ely, and with clout like that the LCPRE will have a much stronger position to fight to protect all of Ely’s wild spaces, of which Roswell is just one site. You can get a membership form from their website

http://www.elywildspace.org.uk/

Swan-Tastic!

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Sunday 9th Sept 12:00pm: - Swans in flight create a similar visual illusion to that of Giraffes running; somehow it all seems to be in slow motion and yet you are certain you are watching events unfold in real-time. This is a sequence of shots taken as this swan approached me in silence with wing beats so slow I thought it might drop out of the sky. With a bright sun and clear sky, the feathers became translucent revealing the full anatomy of the wings.

Great Spotted Woodpecker - (Female)

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After you have walked past the main pit at Roswell, there is a smaller fishing lake on the left; at the top end of this pit, there is a cut-in where the environment agency keeps a boat just off the river. At this point, there are a couple of large willows and this is the territory for this particular bird. In the same general area, you can also see a Green woodpecker, although unless you are very quiet all you tend to see is its back as it flies away making its distinctive alert call.

This female Great Spotted (male has red patch on nape of neck) did not seem to mind me pointing my camera at her; typically, they creep round the other side of the trunk to avoid detection. The bird was very high up and I was quite some way away. Again it was the call of the bird that drew my attention to its whereabouts. It was hard to see by naked eye, and it took a few minutes to locate where it was in the willows (always look to the top, they are not known for low level perching! This shot is 'passable', if not of any great detail and was taken pointing into the sun which did not help. – It is however, a beautiful bird to see and so any glimpse is always a great joy.

*This bird can be confused with a Lesser Spotted woodpecker, but you can tell the difference at a glance, by the bold 'long white bars' on the Greater, where the Lesser just has more of the short white bars. The Lesser is also a smaller bird, but size can be hard to judge at distance, and if you do not know what you are comparing it against! - In Europe there is also a Middle Spotted Woodpecker and both the Male and Female have a red nape on the back of their heads. They are not resident in the UK and so unless you happen to be in France, Germany etc you won't see one of these.