Strays

I lack the necessary patience, skill and lenses to ever be a decent wildlife photographer, but from time to time little wonders of nature are obliging enough to stray within range of my camera. So here are just a few examples:

"Come on, children, it's just that annoying old chap with his little camera".

Canada Geese are not native to Britain but survive and thrive here. We tend to glance at them with little interest as they are so common, and that's a mistake because they are interesting birds. Like many geese they eat a lot of grass, a food source which they are ill-equipped to digest; the proof of this fact can often be found on the soles of your boots!

Black-Headed Gulls are also a common sight here, both on the coast and inland. During my childhood they would appear seasonally and a flock of them following the plough was a welcome novelty. Now they make a living off the rubbish dumped in landfill sites. Somehow they prosper on this diet of rotting food waste and convert it into beauty in the form of graceful, silvery flight.

This photo of a garden spider has been sitting patiently on my hard-drive since last autumn. But that's what spiders are good at - waiting patiently. I'm often amazed at some of the unpromising locations where they decide to build webs; in the cupboard under the kitchen sink, for example. Very few flies seem to venture into the darkness but somehow the spider survives. My father had one in the boot of his car for many months; if he destroyed the web it simply made another. When we eventually located the web-builder it was a large and healthy-looking specimen despite the lack of insects. 

The Shelduck is as big as some geese and is a strikingly handsome bird that I always love to see. Despite it spending a lot of time paddling about on muddy estuaries and marshes it always looks immaculate.

A Grey Squirrel of the black variety! These dark-coloured squirrels are becoming more and more common in this part of the UK and seem to survive perfectly well in all sorts of habitats - this one was at the edge of a supermarket car-park! 

Mrs Mallard with what looks like just one duckling. In fact there are three in that fluffy pile, though she probably started off with more than that - life is tough for baby ducks.

A Swallow perches on a sign. Most keen bird-watchers from this part of the world will recognise that I've been to the RSPB reserve at Minsmere on the Suffolk coast. Swallows used to be so common, though in recent years there are very few in the skies around my home area. Elsewhere they seem to be doing a lot better.

"Come along now! That's enough photos for today!"


Take care.