A last shot of the cormorants and lapwings hanging with seagulls near the sand marten hide at WWT Arundel.
I then focussed on a stretch of inlet/island where a fellow birder spotted snipe....
They are small and camoflauged.....but there!
Back to the cormorants....
....and a flying lapwing!
Then some geese went close to the snipe....
There were 5 snipe sighted by me on this occasion.
My last shot of Mrs Silvertag Bewick is depicted above, still preening.
Next, we entered a hide and spotted a greater white egret.
I used to see these in Australia, when I lived in Wollongong and was within walking distance to 2 free wetlands reserves.
Nowadays, due to climate change/global warming, egrets are far more common in the UK than they used to be.
I then took some photos of the cormorants on the islands near the sand marten hide.
There were also seagulls and lapwings on the island.
The cormorant stretched....
& HERE is some info about that familiar winter bird of britain - the robin - to close todays' offering.
Mrs Silvertag Bewick, resident at WWT Arundel kept on preening...
.....and I kept on taking the pictures of her various stances.
She bent her neck, used her beak, and twsited about with just as agile a neck as....
Naboo!
This one shows her beak markings quite well...
...and her ability to bend her neck.
Maybe all birds have this ability? Naboo sure does.
Starting with Mrs Silvertag Bewick, resident at WWT Arundel.
She was busy preening on this occasion, taking many poses to do so.
For a break, here is Naboo...
While Naboo scratched his head -
Mrs Silvertag Bewick preened on in her photos.
and on....
and on...
My final shot of the Trumpeter swans...before my first from this trip of the Bewick swans - along with a mallard.
I like the flame red of the dogwood behind the swan in this picture.
& here is the other Silvertag.
To know which is male and which female...you have to see which legs the silvertags are worn on.
As a breather, here is yet another shot of Naboo - the parrot who spent around 7 months at my place earlier in 2023.
Back to the Silvertag Bewick duo at Arundel WWT...
These are of MR Silvertag Bewick, the male, evidenced by the tag being worn on the left leg.
Naboo loved his blankie while staying with me....but back to our excursion! The merganzers, edier, and scoter hung out with the long tailed ducks in mass.
Despite the new camera being more reliable, I took a few shots.
Next I took some pictures of the Trumpeter swans - and accompanying farm duck.
1, 2,.....?
If you can only see one Trumpeter and the farm duck - THERE you go, there is the missing swan!
I took several shots to make sure I got both swans in the picture.
But here is Naboo again to end todays post.
A second redshank flies in to join the 3 avocet and single merganzer.
The spectacled eider female is still in the area.
As there are so many avocet photos....have another shot of Naboo as an interlude!
Then its back to the aviary collective where a scoter and a harlequin join the avocet gang.
They seem quite happy sharing their lakes together.
Next, a male longtailed duck.
My final shot today continues my aviary shots.
HERE is some good news from our local WWT
