Getting started: New Year at Caldecotte Lake

Umm a blog. I'd never do that would I?

Well now I have taken the plunge. I've decided to share my camera trips- mostly for the entertainment of my parents tucked in at home in Gloucestershire, but heck - if anyone else is interested, read on.

I like to get out with my camera and record the wildlife I see, and anything else of interest that gets my attention. For 2012 I need to combine that with a bit more exercise, so here I am, setting myself a target of keeping a blog updated at least once a week, with the results of the outing. Hopefully this will motivate the outing on those days when the world outside is less than enticing.

So what did I catch of note today during my circuit of Caldecotte Lake? Not a lot with the camera that's for sure. I saw (amongst others) a bullfinch, long tailed tits, blue tits, great tits, black headed gulls, a black backed gull (not sure which sort) gadwall, tufted duck, mallards, great crested grebe, little grebe, coot, moorhen, heron, mute swans, greylag, and canada geese.

The smew that was hanging round over Christmas had moved on, the great northern diver and the goosander were being elusive. That leaves me with today's highlight, the male and female reed bunting, singing from the tops of the bushes beside the path. The remainder of the birds conspired to keep moving. Even the swans were heading off in the opposite direction.

But for good measure I also captured the picture at the top of this post. A view of the cormorant roost: glowing white where the bright morning sun caught the guano coating on the trees! Charming.