Sunday 14 September 2008

What a difference

What a difference a day makes, especially when the sun comes out. Yesterday's duck count revealed very little - not even a Canada goose to be found. So desperate were we to count that we were glad to see a few mallard! And then a treat - three little grebes on High Bullough Reservoir. I'm always amazed at the width of their rear ends - they remind me of enormous powder puffs.

But 8am this morning (White Coppice), with a blinding ball in the sky incising lines across the landscape, there were robin songs, stuttered warning calls and wings splattering the heavy dew in all directions. Good to see lots of common species showing themselves after their skulking moults. This morning's special treats included a dipper whirring up the watercourse, stonechat, grey wagtail and still some willow warblers and martins around. Also a family of dunnock.

Four cormorant on Anglezarke; Grey Heights and Healey Nab offered a kestrel, pheasant, song thrush, jays etc; and Heapey Lodges gave me the gift of a kingfisher in sparkling sunlit flight.
And maybe I have a poem emerging - about leaky boots....

What creature do YOU consider a gift? And why?

And let's not forget the wonderful photos of a little grebe and a dunnock taken by Mike Atkinson. Follow the link from this page to more of his beautiful photos.

3 comments:

Crafty Green Poet said...

all creatures are gifts! I too have a particular fondness for the little grebe though. Swifts too as they are so very airborne and brighten up the sky over our flats the short time they're here.

The Weaver of Grass said...

I consider all creatures a gift Carolbut my special favourite is the hare. I used to walk around Chorley a lot in the old days when my friends lived there - we used to walk round a Reservoir (some name like Rivington?) Thanks for visiting my blog - come again.

Mistlethrush said...

Thanks for sharing both of you.

It's a small world weaver of grass! There's an upper and lower Rivington reservoir which you may well have walked around? Or it might have been Anglezarke?

The Rivington reservoirs are popular with gulls and the odd cormorant but we get a few goosander on them in the winter.

from the field book

from the field book
An inspiring gift for anyone who enjoys watching nature.