Monday 15 January 2018

Swans

The weather has been so dreary lately, I hate the UK winter with a passion. Cold and crisp I could deal with, but this mushy crap we are currently experiencing is just rubbish. Two weeks into 2018 and in my estimation there has been one weekend day that has had suitable conditions for bird photography. Well any photography really. That was Sunday 7th, and a brief opening in the otherwise constant grey cloud cover in Wanstead provided just a couple of hours in which to take a few images. Blink and you would have missed it, as other than that one day, the camera has stayed firmly indoors gathering dust. So I already posted the Stonechat and the Treecreeper, and I also did a quick photo-heavy post on Ducks – the way the weather is going and my 2018 duck photography project may have ended before it has even started. It is very frustrating to look outside in my brief periods of free time and realise that there is no point in even trying. Happily though I have thought ahead for today’s post, and foretelling this exact scenario held back a few from the weekend before last. This time it is Mute Swans, nothing special but hopefully can add a bit of light to your dull day.




That’s it I’m afraid, anything fresh is going to require a change in the weather, and with a less than one in three change that that change falls on a Saturday or Sunday it is a bit of a lottery. I also have to be in the country, which is never a given – this Saturday for instance I was on Madeira which is rapidly becoming one of my favourite winter destinations. I’ll be providing some boring information on orchids and succulents shortly. If you have not been it is well worth a trip - there are some endemic birds too.

3 comments:

  1. Talking of plants did you ever finish your garden? http://www.wansteadbirder.com/2017/06/hiatus.html?m=1
    I might be the only person out here who is interested but I was mildly curious to see the finished article!

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    1. You are DEFINITELY the only person out there interested/curious! But no, it is not finished, the colder weather caught up with me and I stopped planting. This spring will see renewed effort to get the rest of the sub-tropical plants in the ground and see what remaining space there is.

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  2. I think you'll find the IOC now officially call them Schwans? Please revise your blog post accordingly. Thank you.

    Vigliance always,
    Sepp Blatter

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