Wednesday 31 December 2014

Fleet Pond

Having been suffering from a severe cold for days on end, I had begun to develop "cabin fever" and felt a strong urge to get out of the house for a while. Since it was a bright cold day I felt that a trip to nearby Fleet Pond was in order. This small lake is a well-known haven for wildlife of all sorts, so I reckoned I ought to be able to get a few decent photos...

Fleet Pond is more than just a pond. It's a mega-pond; quite a large expanse of water.


The pond was covered with a thin sheet of ice, making it look as if the water-birds were walking on water.


What the wildlife likes most is the reeds.

The green thing in the background is the new two-storey car-park at the railway station.

Around the pond there are big reed-beds.


The reeds are 6 - 8 feet tall, providing plenty of cover for all the little birds and animals that love to inhabit them.


Lots of Swans live on the pond.


Here's a pair of Swans "necking"!


This one probably thinks it's a Swan, but of course it isn't - it's some sort of Duck.


This one is easier to identify - a female Mallard duck, glowing in the sunshine.


Here is a male Mallard, along with a couple of Canada Geese.


And this is a couple of Canada Geese with another Mallard. The Goose in the centre of the shot is nicely illuminated by a fortuitous ray of sunshine, making it the unmistakeable focus of the photo.


This next shot was taken at a range that was really beyond the capability of my 14 - 42 Standard lens, but I think it is good enough to include anyway. It shows a Grey Heron.


Apart from the water-birds, I met loads of Robins. My photos here are of three different birds. The first one posed very obligingly on a footpath marker-post.


This one perched on a fence looks really chubby - almost spherical.


I think this would count as a "difficult shot" by any measure. This Robin was NOT going to sit in an easy-to-photograph position, but I got him anyway! I rather like the effect of the complex array of boughs and branches.


Apart from birds, I did see some other stuff, like this Marsh Marigold, flowering despite the icy conditions.


And this fungus growing on a tree-stump.


Even an old brick culvert can be photogenic, you know. I love the light and shade effect, and the warmth of the mellow brickwork.


I was talking to another photographer at the pond, and she said to me "What did you come to photograph?". I replied "Whatever looks interesting!"
 
If you enjoyed this post you might be interested in THIS older one - from 2011 - too.

2 comments:

  1. A lovely photo of the female mallard, her feathers are gleaming in the sunshine.

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  2. I'm always surprised how quickly ponds ice over. Some people at the reserve we went to this week were discussing which birds were on their hot lost for next year we are like you and just photograph what is there.

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