Friday 24 February 2012

Spring is on its way

(I wrote this late last night and noticed straight away this morning that I’d put an apostrophe in its!!!  Aaaggh!  One of my pet hates and I did it!  Think I must have been a bit more tired than I realised.)

I’ve been waking to the dawn chorus all this week, which has been such a treat – so many birds singing and it really makes my heart smile.  Isn’t it great when the days lengthen and we finally get to see and hear a little bit more of nature? That must be the best part of having to get up really early.

Last weekend we toddled off to Marsh Side, not too far from Southport, for a well deserved treat in the cold sunshine.  We didn’t see a great deal, although there was a curlew really close to one of the hides all the time we were there and I’ve never seen one so close before.  Saw lots of pied wagtails though and a great display of flying geese – unfortunately, they were just leaving as we arrived, so we didn’t get any photos.  It was SO Cold!

CURLEW 4

CURLEW 10

GULL

TEAL 5

PINTAIL 2

Lots of photogenic swans, as well as the teal and pintail above. I didn’t get any good pintail shots, other than bottoms in the air, they’re so fast.

SWANS15

SWANS 3

SWAN 4

I’m really pleased with this next photo – if you click it you’ll get a full size image and see just how sharp it is – one of my best, I think. The second one is cropped from the first.  The light was kind to me!

SWAN 1

SWAN HEAD

This was the view in the corner of our street when we arrived home. I’m tempted to crop off the tops of the trees, though, cos they look so unnatural with their straight tops. Our neighbours are always chopping at their trees.

SUNDAY SKY