Woke up this morning to a fine sunny day. No rain! No wind and no miserable leaden sky. We decided to make the most of this opportunity so we drove up to Clumber Park in north Notts. to try for a few decent photographs to add to my stock. I especially wanted to add pictures of Mandarin and Nuthatch. Mandarin was a dead loss but Nuthatch was quite a success.
We managed to locate two male Mandarin Duck but as is the norm with these birds they prefer to hangout under overhanging vegetation at the water's edge. One bird refused to leave the dense vegetation on the bank and the other bird would not move more than two or three metres from the bank. And as both were over two hundred metres from us I could only manage this record shot. A disappointing start.
Wandering around looking for Nuthatch I stopped to take a couple of close-ups of this Mute Swan cygnet. Always good for an arty photo.
As indeed is this close-up of the flank of a Canada Goose.
But it was Nuthatch shots that I was wanting after failing to get decent pictures of Mandarin Duck. A suitable site was located and sure enough a couple of obliging Nuthatches fed away totally unfazed by our presence.
Judging by the chestnut tones on the flanks of this bird it is an adult male. Females have a lighter chestnut flank. The ventral region of this bird was particularly deep chestnut.
I managed to shoot off a few virtual 'rolls of film' and left pretty satisfied with the images that I have.
Nuthatch Portrait
Back later for the Mandarin! This is also a really good site for Marsh, Coal, Blue and Great Tit as all are confiding and regularly use feeders around the park so decent photographs of these are a good bet. If its 'cute' squirrels you're after you can't go wrong here as the little beggers do just that. Run up to your feet and practically beg for your nuts!
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