Tag: winter plumage

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CBWC

In the Water and On the Water

This is my contribution to Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge: In or On Water prompt.

I started out considering all the bird species I have photographed on water before thinking of photos of rocks and boulders in water.

Then I remembered the tree stump that appeared at Hurleston Reservoir when the water level dropped and I realised that I could go with in and on water with a single photo.

Winter plumage Black-headed Gulls swimming around and standing on a tree stump in Hurleston Reservoir near Nantwich in southern Cheshire, England.

CBWC: In or On Water
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Saturday Bird

Black-headed Gulls

My Saturday Bird this week is the Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus), a small gull that breeds in much of the Palearctic.

The birds in the photo are winter plumage adults who lost their dark head feathers in the autumn. They’re standing in a shallow section of Hurleston Reservoir near Nantwich in southern Cheshire, England, a lot of them are preening.

In the 1990s Hurleston Reservoir was the location of a large winter gull roost that included thousands of Black-headed Gulls.

Saturday Bird: Black-headed Gulls
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Six Word Saturday

Perched On Top of the Hedge

My contribution to Six Word Saturday.

A leftover April Square Tops photo.

A winter plumage male European Stonechat.

On Top of the Hedge

 

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Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday: 18th March 2020

Wordless Wednesday: 18th March 2020

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Weekly Prompts

Weekly Prompts Photo Challenge: The Tree

This is my contribution to the Weekly Prompts Photo Challenge: The Tree.

Having decided to ignore the obvious theme, the Christmas tree, I had a couple of ideas for the challenge before remembering the remains of a tree in a reservoir in south Cheshire.

It only became visible when the water level dropped but when it appeared it was popular with the birds.

A pair of Mallard hanging out on the remains.

Weekly Prompts Photo Challenge: The Tree

 

A Common Coot standing on it.

Weekly Prompts Photo Challenge: The Tree

 

A Canada Goose doing Tai Chi on it.

A Canada Goose having a stretch.

 

A juvenile Grey Heron on it. The bird is watching something closely.

Is that food?

 

Some winter plumage Black-headed Gulls on and around it.

Winter plumage Black-headed Gulls.

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Six Word Saturday

Splashes of colour on the branches.

Some autumn leaves in the winter.

Six Word Saturday.

Some autumn colour in the winter.

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Throwback Thursday

Preening in the shallows.

Throwback Thursday travels back to Hurleston Reservoir, Cheshire, England in the 1990s.

A group of Black-headed Gulls (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) in winter plumage standing in a shallow section of the reservoir. I noticed that a surprising number of the birds were taking the opportunity to preen while standing in the water.

I’ve mentioned in previous posts about species having their common English names or their scientific names changed after DNA testing. In this case the scientific name has been changed since the photo was taken and captioned. So many species have had a name changed that these days l Google a species before I write a blog post or caption photos.

Winter plumage Black-headed Gulls.