Ring-necked Duck, Messingham

This duck has been around for a while now but we have only just got round to going for it. A stroll to the hide and we soon found it.....and it really couldn't have been any further away if it tried ! So, what you might call 'record shots' of a brown bird on brown water in the dense grey murk that we have as weather these days. 

A couple of hobbies this morning

 

A couple of hobbies hawking dragonflies above the reserve this morning

Garden Warblers

 

A couple singing away on the reserve this week

Our hobbies are back !

 

A walk round Messingham last Wednesday and Karen yells 'hobby'. Our first of the year and it flew and fed all morning. We got caught up in a garganey twitch that we were told was right infront of the hide....wrong, it was nowhere to be seen !  Now we wished we had stood and photographed the hobby as it had gone the following day. But there will be others on the way !

Sparrowhawk

 

We have a pair very close to our house that we see daily but this one was at Messingham Nature Reserve last week. They flew and displayed constantly, fantastic to see x

Buzzard

Scarlet Elf Cups, Messingham NR

 

Our local elf cups have finally shown themselves and they look spectacular. The patch that we usually head to looks to be spreading with lots now dotted along nearby branches. Bit boggy underfoot but well worth it.

A few bits and bobs

 

Pied Wagtails everywhere on our walk today

A white pheasant scurrying along the hedgerow, quite an unusual sight

These two pics are from Messingham Nature Reserve, our local reserve. The volunteers simply never stop clearing. The paths are cut wider than most roads and now the understorey of the woodlands are starting to be cleared. A lot of trees now show signs of strimmer damage and below was the sight that greeted us this week......just at the start of the breeding season. If they had to do the work, why wasn't it undertaken in the winter months ? I won't get on my soap box but you can see where we are coming from. 

Meadow Pipit

The trees in our local forest are greener than green, this pic certainly doesn't do them justice

Sorry, another moan !  A public footpath that is now a pond with the flood water pumped on it from the nearby farm. Totally unwalkable.

Goldcrest that refused to show us it's crest !

Tree Creeper

Lesser Celandine now in flower, a sure sign of spring

Lots of Chiffchaffs in full song, beautiful !

Beautiful blossom xx

Ring-necked Duck, Messingam

 

An excellent couple of hours at Messingham to see the ring-necked duck. Afraid never close and with a good 100 tufted duck and pochard on there aswell, seeing it was sometimes challenging !