Grey Herons...Mere Sands Wood

This week has seen more severe weather throughout England and Wales with more heavy rain and hurricane force winds.The North West took a battering yesterday with the exceptionally strong winds causing widespread damage and disruption.Earlier in the week on an almost springlike day I visited a local nature reserve at Mere Sands Wood at Rufford.I was hoping to see the goosanders that had been present for a while but they had moved on.It was nice however to be able to go into the Rufford Hide again following recent vandalism.

I spent the afternoon with pleasant company and from time to time action from the grey herons present .They provided some nice action and reflection shots as they looked for food Also present were great crested grebes,one pair were mating and nest building but were too distant for any worthwhile images One grebe did come close and also gave a nice reflection image shown above.A waterhen was seen carrying a partly eaten fish,I don't think it would have caught it but maybe picked it up from shallow water.I am not aware that waterhens actually eat fish but you learn something new every day.

It was nice to be able to get out on a decent day for a change and enjoy the very pleasant conditions.It seems like more very wet and windy weather may be on the way on what has been a conveyor belt of depressions driven by a very strong jet stream in off the Atlantic.Hope you enjoy the heron,grebe and waterhen images above and thanks for looking in. Hopefully some better weather will be on the way soon.