Annitsford pond

I've been going to Annitsford pond a small nature reserve near were I live.

On the water I have spotted, 2 adult mute swan and 1 juvenile, 3 mallard,  1 coot, 1 Teal and several unidentified birds that took off from the water and flew away.

I have been told that otters have been spotted by the allotments at the far side of the lake.

My garden birds 2

Today  I spent some time using rocks that have been lying around in the garden to build a small wall. It's only three feet long and about one and a half feet high its built in a corner area near my bird table.  I'm using the far side of it to create a small compost heap using the leaves and twigs in the garden. The wall is just a small dry stone wall so there are plenty of gaps for insects and slugs to make their home which of course will be a free buffet for the birds.

Due to the wall building work dinner was late for the birds. From my dinning room window today I saw great tit, blue tit, robin, blackbirds and dunnock.

Looking at my garden and the neighbours gardens I have a cared for trimmed lawn on one side and an unkempt garden on the other, my own garden has a tree and several smaller bushes and has not been tidied for quite a few years.

One neighbour has put up bird boxes and the other has a peanut dispenser so between the three of us the birds are being well catered for.

My photographs

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davekane13/

My garden birds

I have decided to try and attract more wildlife into my garden.

I've been buying some bird feeders for the garden a fat ball holder a peanut feeder and a couple of seed feeders.I have also made my own bird table by turning a bin upside down and and using the bottom for a table, the lid is upside down on the ground with water in.

I'm hoping over time to get a proper bird table as my improvised bird table has been a success birds this week , blackbirds, sparrows, magpie, Collared doves, robin, jackdaw and some dunnocks.

My garden is a mess and I am hoping to sort it out and create a wildlife friendly garden so that in the summer I will not only have birds but maybe butterflies as well by planting flowers. Also hope to add some bird boxes as I understand food water and shelter are the three basics to keep birds in the garden.

Introduction and a Trip to Big Waters Nature Reserve.

I am a amateur/novice wildlife and photography enthusiast, mostly its about the photo I try to get the best shot of whatever subject I am taking.

I started taking photos with my phone in the summer and then graduated to a Canon Powershot A3100 IS which I used until  I could afford to buy a Canon SX 500 IS at the same time I bought a monopod which I think is great as I also use it as a walking stick when on rough ground.

Any photo will do if I can add to my collection of wildlife but eventually the aim is to get a nice crisp focused picture of the subject. Yesterday I took a photo of a rabbit it was very long range and had to be cropped so the picture is a bit fuzzy and there was no way to get closer so that photo will have to do until I get a chance to get a bit closer to a rabbit and get a better picture.

A trip to a local nature reserve was great this morning. As I approached I was passing a gate I looked into the field because I seem to be spotting a lot in fields and I was supposed to see a Grey Heron, so that was the spotting / photograpy trip of to a good start. On the lake from a viewing platform I saw Widgeon, Comarants and a Kestrel identification was help by a bird watcher who had joined me on the platform he even lent me his binoculars to get a closer look at the Widgeon. He told me about a walk way around the lake and when I got to the end there was a feeding station where I got photographs of moorhen, great tit, Sparrow, and a chaffinch.