Wildlife Photographic Journals

Capital Birds - Waterfowl

This will be the last bird post from the recent trip down to London, as the next will actually deal with the main purpose of the visit, some deer. As usual my lens ended up getting pointed at some waterfowl. In fact the Egyptian Geese were so friendly I decided to have a bit of fun with a wider angle and dusted of the 70-200mm lens and used it at 70mm. This is a bird which at present seems restricted mainly to the south and east of the country and I certainly have never seen one in my local area.

Incoming goose....

and some 'wide' shots

A coot speeding across the surface caught my eye However, what was real attracting my attention was a small group of Gadwall that were resting through most of the day but came alive as the afternoon sun start to sink. We do not get many Gadwall in the north-west where I live, so I always make the effort to try and photograph some while I am down south. From a distance they are quite a plain looking duck. It is only when you get close that there true beauty is revealed with the intricate patterns on the drake's feathers. They looked even better than usual in some late afternoon autumn sun which produced some great reflective autumn colours on the water off the bankside trees.

Not forgetting the female of course which look very similar to a female mallard.To finish off, one photo of a drake floating on some golden autumn water in the last of the afternoon sun, a perfect way to end a day.