Tuesday 12 March 2019

Some photographs taken over this winter

Some photographs taken over this autumn and winter.

Red-breasted Flycatcher (Ficedula parva) Southwold, Suffolk October 2018


Shorelark (Eremophila alpestris) Kessingland, Suffolk October 2018

Merveille du Jour (Griposia aprilina) Norfolk October 2018

Grey Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius) Winterton, Norfolk November 2018
Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) Norfolk January 2019

Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus) Norfolk January 2019

Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) Norfolk January 2019
This is the juvenile Grey Seal that spotted me prostrate on the beach, photographing the Glaucous Gull (above), at Cley. 

It bounded up to me and made itself comfortable lying right next to me and even had a little doze. The warm glow of being accepted by a wild animal was punctured, somewhat, by the thought it mistook me for a seal.
 
Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) Norfolk January 2019
This is the Little Grebe that shockingly died right in front of me. It had caught a fish & was bobbing its head up & down as it tried to swallow it. It then threw its head back & keeled over onto its back & floated off down river. 200m downstream I managed to retrieve the bird. 

This Bullhead fish was stuck in the mouth of the Little Grebe. Its pectoral fins were held out perpendicularly so preventing it being swallowed. But why had the bird died so suddenly? Could it still breathe through its nostrils with the fish's head in the mouth?


Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) Norfolk February 2019