The Young Ones

I haven't reported on the progress of the grebes at a local nature reserve for some time.I can now say that the pair of great crested grebes I have been watching have been successful in raising three youngsters.I last visited a few weeks ago and was very pleased to see three very young grebe chicks riding on the back of one of the parent birds.They were not easy to pick out as they were snuggled down under the feathers on the back. However when the other parent bird appeared with food they made themselves visible as they tried to be first to get the very small fish that were being brought to them.The parents would change duties and the chicks were tipped off the back into the water.They then scrambled onto the back of the new transport to take them round the lake to meet the incoming food.

It was wonderful to watch the parents carrying out their duties and hopefully all three chicks will grow quickly and healthily to maturity. Also on show as usual at this lake was a little grebe which looked splendid as it patrolled the lake edge close to the camera allowing some more nice portrait shots It would be nice to see some young little grebes but no sign yet.Hope you like some of my efforts with the camera and I will return in due course to check on the progress of these delightful great crested grebes.Thanks for looking in and you can be sure of more reports soon from Lancashire's wildlife.

Four Queens

At the end of May it was the Bank Holiday weekend.This coincided with a visit to Liverpool of the three Cunard liners,Queen Victoria,Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth. This special event was to celebrate 175 years of the Cunard Shipping Line.I was keen to see these three magnificent liners so I joined the crowds of people on Crosby beach to witness the arrival in the Mersey estuary.Queen Mary 2 came out to welcome the two other queens and escort them to the Liver Building frontage in Liverpool where they performed a "dance" in front of the assembled crowds.A fly past by the red arrows concluded the performance and the Queen Mary 2 then left Liverpool to go on its travels leaving the other two queens in Liverpool.

None of this was visible from Crosby beach but the blue skies appeared to escort the Queen Mary 2 back out into the Irish Sea.I enjoyed the experience and some of my images from Crosby beach are shown above.The fourth queen I was to see was a few days later when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth visited Lancashire to visit the City of Lancaster as part of her visit to the Duchy Of Lancaster.Later she visited Myerscough College Of Agriculture and I was able to see her on her way by road as she passed through the village of Bilsborrow.I was lucky choosing the right side of the road to stand and managed a few images as she passed by. All in all an excellent week with some memorable images. Hope you enjoy my images of the four queens and thanks for looking in.      

Swans and Cygnets

This last week I have visited the Lancaster Canal at Conder Green and Hest Bank.I returned to the area as on a previous walk I saw a number of swans with families.I haven't photographed swans and cygnets very much so decided it would be a nice subject for a blog post.The weather was still very cool and windy as it has been throughout May but some afternoons were bright and sunny and would be ideal for photography.

I had found four swan families with cygnets in various stages of development.The number of cygnets varied from two to nine in number.The mute swan is a bird we tend to take for granted but particularly at this time of the year it is a delight to observe and photograph these family groups of birds.Shown above are some of my better efforts at swan photography.I particularly like the ones of the male birds in full sail taking advantage of the strong winds to patrol their patch of the canal. Thanks for looking in and now that Summer has officially arrived maybe the weather will warm up a bit.As I write it is pouring with rain accompanied by gale force winds!!

Arctic Bound

This last week has seen me make a couple of visits to a favourite wader roost near Southport.I hadn't visited since March and obviously lots of birds present then had departed for the breeding grounds.Most of the knots had gone with only a couple of small groups present and there were only a very few godwits and grey plovers left.There were however still good numbers of sanderlings and dunlin with a scattering of ringed plovers.

For this post I have concentrated on the sanderlings.A large percentage of the birds were well advanced in obtaining their summer breeding plumage.It is always a delight to see the rich chesnut colours of the sanderlings after the very pale white colours of their winter plumage.The birds were intent on feeding and scurried about the beach in the usual clockwork mouse manner.They were not bothered by my close and careful approach and allowed me to take many images before they moved further away to follow the falling tide.

It had been a wonderful experience to be close to these wonderful little waders.Very soon now they will be heading north for their breeding grounds in Greenland and Siberia which I think is where most of our sanderlings are heading.I wish them well on their long journey and in a couple of months or so they will be heading south again to spend the winter months back on the Lancashire coastline. Thanks for looking in and hope you enjoy my images of these lovely little waders.