My ramblings, my photos, photography, image editing, etc.

Yet more Rodley Nature Reserve and Baildon Bank landscapes. Early Oct 2024.

I have made another couple of visits to Rodley Nature Reserve, both times I had no problem with the bridge holding up traffic. I have also been up on Baildon Bank around sunrise time. Let’s start with the Baildon Bank sunrise visit and then combine the photos from the Rodley Nature Reserve visits. Kingfisher, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Lapwing, Shoveler, Swans, Gadwall, Wigeon, Snipe, Water Rail, Grey Heron, Moorhen, Coot, Kestrel, Teal, Crow and a hybrid. And in the Manager’s Garden – Wood Pigeon, Great Tits, Chaffinch, Magpie, Pheasant – but no photos.

The header image is of a few Wigeon on The Lagoon.

And as usual tap/click on an image to see it better quality in its gallery.

Baildon Bank

Three photos at sunrise time from Baildon Bank on Sunday morning.

Rodley Nature Reserve

I went along to Rodley Nature Reserve on Saturday and Sunday, 12th & 13th October with my camera. The photo above is by way of a header image that shows the trees growing on the slopes of the river valley at Rodley Nature Reserve.

On the Sunday visit I fitted the 1.4x teleconverter to my lens which turns the 600mm into 840mm, and with this being on an APS-C crop sensor camera the full-frame equivalent is 1344mm. The day was overcast with enough cover so that you could look at the Sun without it burning your eyes out. I was pushing my luck using such a lens on a day like that but from my previous visit I knew there might be some birds on the far side of the Lagoon that I would like to capture.

The larger birds didn’t all need the teleconverter though some of the Little Egret photos are at full stretch.

The Swans are still swimming around in a family group. Another two Swans were swimming around the Duck Marsh. Initially I thought it was a male “courting” a female where she was keeping him at a distance, but then I noticed that they were both male. Someone in the hide mentioned that the one in front was a recent visitor. It was not a leisurely swim they were doing, you could see they were putting some effort in, but not panicking. The larger, older one at the back just kept pushing along. A couple of times he got close enough to make a wing-beating rush for the one in front. It managed to get away each time, I think if it had got caught it would certainly come off worst.

Getting towards the end of the visit a Little Egret flew in when I was in the Reedbed Hide. It spent a few minutes efficiently fishing before flying off.

When I walked into the Reedbed Hide a flash of blue left one of the perches, splashed into the water just in front of the reeds and flew off behind them. Apparently it had been there, on the perch for 20 minutes, so I decided to sit and wait for it to come back, and it did.

Shovelers are aptly named, it does look as though they could scoop out the river bed with a beak that size. The, sort of, front-on shot is not with a wide angle lens to make the beak appear large, but is taken at 568mm so if anything it should be making the beak look small. From the side of the bird the lamellae in the beak (the comb like structure that lets them filter out their food) can be quite obvious.

The Hybrid is like a Chiloe Wigeon, but not quite, so it has been suggested it is a cross between some kind of Wigeon and, possibly, a Shoveler. People with more skills are needed.

I know Little Grebes are little but I thought Coots were too, so to see a Little Grebe in front of a Coot shows how little Little Grebes can be.


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