Soggy Sunday at the London Wetland Centre with a Spotted Flycatcher and another camera malfunction

It was gloomy, windy and damp today, not a day to be sitting in the woods, so I decided to go to the London Wetland Centre and catch up with some of the Barnes Birders. So before I start my waffling blog post, it was lovely to see Birdy Phil, John and Therese Cass, Joe, Michael, Posh Boy, Martin, Keith and of course John 'The Fewy' Few.

 

After breakfast I shot off to find a Bee Orchid that John C had told me about, snapping a nigella and some daisies on the way....

 

 

The beautiful Bee Orchid

possible Pyramidal Orchid ?

Southern Marsh Orchid

I met up with the others in the Peacock Tower. The dark clouds over head made everything look gloomy and there wasn't that much to see today...

 

Lapwing

Cormorant

Cormorant taking off....

There was a Little Ringed Plover sitting on one of the shingle islands. It looks to be sitting on a nest but despite several tries with my little zoom lens I couldn't get a clear shot so I asked Fewy if my SD card could piggy back his, and he dutifully obliged.....

Photo by 'The Fewy'

 and he grabbed a photo of one of the Lapwing chicks for me too...

 

Photo by 'The Fewy'

Shortly after that word came through that a Spotted Flycatcher had been seen near the bird feeders. I had just left the tower but was stopped in my tracks by John Cass phoning me and Fewy calling me back. We all walked en masse to the feeders and after much searching spread out and looked again. Michael eventually spotted it from one of the bridges and for a while a mini 'twitch' was on.....

 

 

Knowing that Fewy still had my SD card in his camera, I eventually wandered off for something to eat. But luck was on our side and the Flycatcher showed for a few minutes before disappearing back into the shadows, and Fewy managed a record shot....

 

Photo by 'The Fewy'

Meanwhile on the way to the café I got a record shot of my own, my first Water Vole photo of the year. It swam across the small stream so quickly I only managed this one out of focus shot, but it'll do for now....

 

 

After lunch some of us went to see the Goldcrests by The Lodge. The juveniles had fledged last weekend but they were still hanging around the evergreen firs. They were incredibly flighty as to be expected, and photographing just one was proving to be difficult, but with some patience and perseverance I got a record shot of an adult...

 

 

and a quick shot of Fewy trying to get a shot of the Goldcrests....

 

 

I then managed to grab two photos of one of the juveniles....

 

 

Then disaster struck. My zoom lens, the same one I had problems with last Sunday at Bushy Park, malfunctioned again. After last Sunday I had tried testing it during the week and it seemed to be working okay again, but this afternoon it came up with the same error message as last weekend. Despite taking the camera apart and cleaning it before putting it all back together, it refused to focus. I think Posh Boy was a bit shocked by some of my profanities whereas Fewy had heard it all before so he didn't bat an eyelid. I've had that lens for nearly 8 years so have certainly got my moneys worth out of it. It's just a shame it's chosen now to break.

 

Fewy to the rescue again, with my SD card piggy-backing back in his camera he got these three fantastic shots of one of the juvenile Goldcrests.....

 

photo by 'The Fewy'

photo by 'The Fewy'

photo by 'The Fewy'

And Fewys generosity didn't end there. Knowing that I'm away next weekend he has lent me his Minolta camera lens. What a decent geezer that Fewy is !

 

We popped over to Cranford Park for a very brief gander but there wasn't a lot about. .

Last weekend I had found a fallen tree across one of the main paths. I emailed Alison Shipley, our local Countryside and Conservation Officer, just in case she wasn't aware of it and she replied saying she was and that the local Park Officers would be removing it later in the week. I mentioned what a great place it had been to sit and listen to the birds so Alison replied she would ask the Park Officers to leave a cut log for me.......

 

last weekend.....

and they've gone one better...

 

 

They've made me a little log seat. It's even got a foot rest and has been 'pinned' to stop it moving !

 

 

Thank you Alison and the Park Officers involved. I'll be testing it out fully later next week, but I can confirm it is rather comfortable.