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I've not managed to get out for the two previous weekends but I did make a visit to "The Eyes" this weekend.

Always full of anticipation and filled with the hope of finding some exotic/rare bird I opened the gate to the footbridge that crosses the bund to "The Eyes". Look right and left and nothing much on the bund other than a few tufted duck. Up to the first screen which looks across the south pool, Teal, Coot, Tufted Duck and a few Black-Headed Gulls flying around but nothing else on show.

However it was quite bright and a cooling breeze blowing so even if I wasn't going to see any birds it would still be a pleasant nature walk.
I normally walk anti-clockwise around the bed as it gets you to the hides quicker. Anyway I decided to take the clockwise route through the meadows I saw a couple of small birds probably Dunnock diving into the undergrowth but that was it. I could hear birds singing but that was probably a tape being played by the ringers to attract the birds to the nets. No butterflies around the wildflower meadows and still no birds and not even any Pheasants calling. So onto the Rotary Hide that looks over the North Pool. Tufted Ducks, Gadwall, Black-headed Gulls, and possibly a Black-necked Grebe could be seen but all too distant to photograph.
On the way back to the main footpath I did spot some fungus that I did take some photos of but I should have used the tripod or beanbag to make sure they were sharp but I did get one useful shot.

I walked past the Frank Lindley Hide as it is difficult to get into with the all the equipment so on to the John Morgan Hide.

Quite a few common birds on the water including Water Rail, Sand Martin, Cormorant, Black-headed Gulls, Gadwall, Teal, Moorhen, Coot, Tufted Duck. Unfortunately no waders on the scrape and nothing in photographing distance. A few Peacock Butterflies floating around and quite a few Brown Hawker Dragonflies zipping about looking for their next meal.I tried getting a few shots of them but I couldn't get a focus on them.

The next thing I stumbled across was a tiny ladybird like insect but it was greeny/yellow with black spots and not the usual red and black ladybird. I did take a photo not brilliant but good enough for anyone to identify it if there are any insect experts out there.

I'd now got to the stage where I just wanted to take photos of anything regardless of whether it was flying, static, animal, flora or insect. So I spent some time photographing Hoverflies and anything that came within shooting distance.

At the Sybil Hogg hide I did spot a Black-tailed Godwit just losing its summer plumage and it was just about within range. The shots where ok but no better than anything already on the website so I've not uploaded them.

So that was the end of my trip to "The Eyes", a bit frustrating in some respects but it was really nice to get out with the camera. In the three hours I was there I saw two people so it really is like having your own nature reserve when you visit "The Eyes".

Best wishes

Andy

Sunday gave us the opportunity to travel the short distance to the Wirral and do our normal tour, Wallasey, Leasowe, Hoylake, West Kirby but with time constraints as we have had to do some hospital visiting over the last week.

As we were walking round the Marine Lake at West Kirby along came a Brown Rat and it stopped more or less right in front of us. An ideal photo opportunity, so I raised the camera to my eye, pressed the shutter button and fired. In the process of pressing the shutter button I noticed that the auto focus point wasn’t the centre point. Rats, one shot and it had gone. I’ve viewed the photo and the ground just to the left of the rat is nice sharp and in focus, the rat is not!!



The program control switch on the top of the camera (Canon7D) had been knocked from its usual AV setting. This is one of the problems I’ve had with all my Canon cameras, the program control switch can’t be locked and I’ve lost loads of shots due to this issue. In my opinion it is definitely a major design fault and it can be a real pain in the behind. However I have been told that a modification can be made to the camera to stop this issue but I don’t know anyone who has had it done and if it works.
The moral of the story keep checking the settings on the camera!!

Andy

All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

Well that’s what the hymn says anyway and Saturday certainly was bright and beautiful.

As the crow flies I probably only live a mile away from “The Eyes” but I tend not to walk there these days, as I take too much stuff with me. So I loaded up the car and after a short drive I soon reached the first locked gate at Latchford Lock. From there it probably another mile driving along the bumpy unmade road alongside the Manchester Ship Canal. There’s always the chance of seeing something on this short drive, rabbit, fox, birds so with the camera primed and ready for action, off I set. Unfortunately I reached the parking area at the reserve entrance without seeing anything other than a couple of Great Crested Grebes and they were on the other side of the canal so too far away for a good photograph.

I quickly unloaded my gear and walked around to the footbridge over the bund that separates the reserve from the rest of “The Eyes”. Opening the gate I’m always filled with anticipation and the hope that I may see/photograph something unusual or scarce. I walked across the footbridge and couldn’t see anything on the bund a poor start as there’s usually something on the water. Up the bank and along the footpath to the first screen and hide and I couldn’t see anything on the water other than a solitary Coot and some gulls flying in the distance, not a good omen. No point in staying there then although there is always a good chance of seeing Water Rail from the hide.

Onto the meadows and still no birds and pretty silent apart from a Pheasant calling. I thought the colours of the flowers on the vegetation looked nice and there were plenty of butterflies to be seen flitting from flower to flower. Out came the other camera and I got really low down to try and exaggerate the size of the vegetation. I think I did that quite well and the purple flowers look good against the blue sky.



I took a few other photographs including the Thistles and some of the Butterflies.

The next thing that caught my eye was the number of insects flying around so I got the 100mm macro lens out to see if I could get any of these I had some success and captured one or two in flight, they aren’t super sharp but not bad. Trying to identify them is quite a challenge with various bees, wasps and hover fly to choose from. Apparently there are 270 or so types of hover fly recorded in the British Isles so photographing them might be a whole new challenge. Anyway I think I have managed to identify what I did photograph but I’m not confident and if any experts read this let me know if I identified them correctly.

On to the Rotary Hide that overlooks the north pool but nothing came close enough to photograph in the time that I was there. Next stop the John Morgan Hide, there is always something to be seen from this hide either on the scrape, the water, the feeding station or just flying over. Gadwall, Coots, Cormorants, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Tufted Duck were the birds of the day. Then a solitary Common Snipe appeared from nowhere and just about within shooting distance. The photos required heavy cropping but they don’t look too bad so I’ve uploaded some of them to the latest photo gallery. I also took some photos of a Peacock Butterfly with the 500mm lens that aren’t bad. I then had to leave the tranquillity of “The Eyes” and move back into the real world. Visiting Woolston Eyes most of the time is like having your own private nature reserve and you may only see a handful of people, if that many.

Andy