Our day out..... with birds!

[mouse_chalk]

So, poor Steve has, as usual, been working non-stop for weeks. He finally took a day off yesterday, even though he should have been working, so that we could spend some time together for a change.

We went to Slimbridge, which is a bird conservation park, about 40 mins away from us:

http://www.wwt.org.uk/centre/122/visit/slimbridge.html


It was a beeee-yoooo-tiful day, and I haven't taken my camera out and taken lots of pictures like that for months! I took 440 pictures!! :shock::shock:

We were hoping to see more baby ducklings, but we were there a little early, so there were a lot of birds sitting on nests, but only one duck had a group of babies! We have to go back next month because they will have otters, and loads of baby birds there!



So, here are just some of the pictures I took yesterday. It was difficult because the sun kept going in and out, so I had to keep adjusting the camera each time, and obviously birds and ducks move fast if they want to, LOL. So I'm not pretending these are great or anything, they're just what I could get at the time! It was really nice to use my zoom lens for a change though!


A big swan:

A duck flying (I just turned around as it was flying and shot blindly- so it's not the best, since the big swan got in the way lol!)

Steve offers you some feed

'Lesser Flamingos'- I don't know why they are 'Lesser' but that's what they're called!

A very not-so-great picture of me- windy, plus bad angle, plus growing out fringe, plus not arranging myself properly = TERRIBLE picture of Jen!! :shock:

Jen and Steve.....

Birds chasing:

Paddling:

Nesting:

Displaying some..... 'seasonal angst'

I forget what these are called- something like 'Grey-headed Goose' I think, but they are the cheekiest things ever! They will run up to you and practically steal food out of your hand, or nip your knees if you aren't quick enough!

This little guy was BEAUTIFUL:

These birds LOVED to eat grain out of Steve's hand:

And mine!

The view from Kingfisher Hide- we saw no Kingfishers but it was a pretty outlook. Not the best because I was using my zoom lens and didn't want to change just for that picture... lazy, yes indeed

In the tropical hothouse- I forget what this bird was called, but she is sooo pretty!

More pictures to come! I just didn't want to make this post too big....

 

[paul2641]

Seems like a very good day!

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Jen, that looks like a little call duck of some kind...... I haven't said anything yet but we just got a little call duck...... we need to get another one (hen) but our drake is over with my cuz's ducks next door. He's adorable!

I love all the gorgeous birds there! we have some nice ones but mostly we have Canadian geese!

 

[mouse_chalk]

Ok, some more flying pics- again they were shot blindly as I realised they were flying and didn't turn around quick enough lol....

Flamingos again!!

Not sure what this one was doing- it was thrashing back and forth in the water for ages- I think possibly a mating call but we didn't find the info post to find out...

Pretty wings!

Sleepy Mallard:

Hungry Mallard:

A black swan trying to build her nest- we watched her for a good 10 mins trying to put a feather in the right place:

Just happened to catch this behind the swan:

Cuuuuute!

This dude was very intent on splashing as much as he could!

:shock:

Again, don't know the name but very pretty bird:

This guy saw Steve from the other end of a path and came running towards him, quacking all the way!

Hand-feeding (another one joined him soon after!):

These 2 were either fighting, or doing something I've never seen birds do before LOL! :shock: I think it was a bit more 'seasonal angst'...

A swan guarding her nest....

Another cute guy who I forget the name of now....

BABIES!!!! This mother-duck was sooo proud of what seemed to be the only baby ducklings in the whole place. They followed mama around as if she were magnetic. Soooooo cute!

This swan was going for Steve and the grain that he had left LOL!

This bird was not leaving her nest:

And this guy was a VERY lucky catch because he just would not stay still!

That's it! Just a small selection of pictures I took. I felt like very small fry compared to all the real photographers there with their crazy big lenses etc, but we still had a great day. Lovely weather, nice walks and great company

 

[trailsend]

OK Jen LOVE these pictures! What a great place to be able to visit. The birds are just gorgeous. You must tell me again what kind of camera you have? We are in the market for a new one before we travel anywhere. I recently saw a show that mentioned something about where the "Lesser" came from in the Lesser Flamingo. Now of course, I can't remember.

By the way that is NOT a bad picture of you! You look great in that shot!

 

[whaleyk98]

Ok..1 question mouse...what kind of camera do you have...seriously. Im going out to get one. You took some beautiful pictures with it! Absolutely gorgeous! Thanks for sharing....and Steve...thanks for offering some feed. Cute pic,lol.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Great pictures! That sounds like a place I'd like to visit, I love birds. The grey geese look so sweet and gentle, hard to imagine them pecking at you. This guy must be the Skyler of the bird world:

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk87/snowbarn84/Slimbridge Apr 09/IMG_0362.jpg

Skyler loves food more than all other things and would definitely run at people with his tongue hanging out if he could.

Do you think the bird in the last picture could be a Mandarin Duck? The head in particular looks like one, but I think Mandarin Ducks are even more colorful.

 

[mouse_chalk]

Aww thanks you guys! :blushan: I always see the bad bits in my pictures- like that edge was a bit out of focus, the bird isn't in the middle of the shot, etc etc!

Donna and Kate, I have a Canon EOS 400D, but I think you guys know it over there as a Canon Rebel XTi:

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=139&modelid=14256

There's a newer version of that out now though, that Shiloh and undergunfire both have, the Rebel XSi.

I have the standard lens that comes with it, but I also have this lens, that Steve bought me for my birthday last year:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0011NVMO8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


That's how I manage to get close-up shots of the birds!


And the really annoying thing now is that on our way round, I was trying to remember all the birds we saw- looking them up on the information boards and thinking 'I'll remember that so that when I post the pictures I'll know which is which' and I've forgotten them all lol! The even more annoying thing is that we ended up buying a membership because we want to go back after next month when they have otters, and there will be baby duckies everywhere, so it worked out cheaper than paying for 2 visits, and we got a free book. We could have chosen between 2 different reference books, or a 'coffee-table' book called 'Extreme Birds'. We chose that one. If we'd had the others I'd be able to look them all up lol! ssd:


I will try and find the names of some of the less-common ones...

 

[mouse_chalk]

SnowyShiloh wrote:

Great pictures! That sounds like a place I'd like to visit, I love birds. The grey geese look so sweet and gentle, hard to imagine them pecking at you. This guy must be the Skyler of the bird world:

The thing is- they were so sweet! When they were eating out of our hands, they weren't at all 'peckish', they were very careful and didn't nip us at all. The geese with the orange beaks, now they were SO cheeky! They were very pecky as well, and they'd run up behind Steve while he was feeding another one and peck at his legs lol


Looking up pictures, the last one is definitely a mandarin duck! Thank you!

 

[hartleybun]

those are fabulous pics! pity there werent any otters yet - our favouriteknow that you mean about the serious birders - we often meet them on our dogwalks along the river otter - the budleigh salterton end is serious twitcher land - cameras, lenses, tripods, rucksacks. i sometimes think we see far more birds than they do by walking upstream

 

[MissBinky]

Great picture of the lovebird species

 

[pinksalamander]

That picture of Steve made me laugh so much. My Mum came in and was like 'what? What are you laughing at?'

 

[BSAR]

Great pictures Jen!!

Those birds are soooo pretty!

 

[trailsend]

Thanks for the camera info Jen! Kevin confirms to me that is the one he was looking at - and now he wants it even more. I showed him your pictures! We were planning on getting on for our trip North this summer, you helped us make up our minds easily!

 

[mouse_chalk]

trailsend wrote:

Thanks for the camera info Jen! Kevin confirms to me that is the one he was looking at - and now he wants it even more. I showed him your pictures! We were planning on getting on for our trip North this summer, you helped us make up our minds easily!

YAY! I'm glad my pictures helped! It is a really great camera. If I could, I'd go for the upgraded one (XSi) because of the Live View (being able to view the frame in the LCD screen before you shoot)- I would still mostly use the viewfinder but the flexibility of using the screen from time to time would be nice!

And just think- I'm only a very beginner- that camera could take much better pictures than that lol!

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

GREAT pictures and such beautiful and amazing birds!!!

Love the action shots you got too!!

Emily

 

[kherrmann3]

Lovely pictures, Jen! I wish my camera got as good of action shots! I'm jealous!

The pictures of you looked fine! Don't be so hard on yourself! That picture of Steve is hilarious!

 

[mouse_chalk]

Thank you guys! It's been a while since I've taken any pictures that I like! It's got me thinking about all the camera stuff I want to get eventually.... when I win the lottery one day

Steve didn't realise I had posted that pic until he saw it here last night LOL! :blushan:


Oh, and Sophie- LOL at your comment! I missed that before! Thanks!

 

[maherwoman]

JEN!! Beautiful pictures! Wow...you get so many more interesting birds there!

And you guys make such a beautiful couple, too...how sweet!!

:hug:

 

[DeniseJP]

What a great day in pictures!

I like how you captured the action of the birds in flight - and how you were able to get close to the swans... I was once able to sit on a beach in Connecticut and had a pair get within 10 feet of me with their cygnets, but then some kids came running down the beach and spooked them off.

The wood duck is beautiful, too.

Denise