Netherton Hill 14/03/2013

Never let it be said, that Netherton can't throw up a few surprises, cause I was sure surprised today, let me elaborate further for you. I/ have been visiting Netherton Reservoir for the past few months, so today I decided to take myself off, with my camera in tow to Netherton Hill ( which if you don't know where it is, is behind Netherton Church, School and Cricket pitch), I was going over there to maybe catch some bug shots, to no avail, I went on my merry way around the bottom of the Hill and saw the Murry Cows and the Horses so I thought I'll take some shots of them, started taking my shots and then I turned and looked over my shoulder for some reason and there at the bottom of the hill in the pool I saw what I believed to be a Heron, I shook my head and thought NO WAY!!!, it must be one of those plastic ones to attract them, well I knew the distance was really going to push the camera I had, but I did managed to get a shot, still believing it was a fake and then all of a sudden it flew off, lol I fell about laughing, I can tell ya, well I managed to get a couple of shots, they are not very good, but you can tell what it is, I hope.

I hope this is a rare thing, but I'm not sure, as I have only taken up photography in the past year, and maybe they always visit there, but for me it was the first time, so it was very exciting, even though, I messed the shot up, its something I'll never forget, but I will endeavour to maybe see it again this week, I hope, and I do hope its a regular visitor from now on

So below you will see what I thought was a plastic Heron and when it flew off, so the morale of this story, always believe yours eyes lol

 Murry Cows, very gentle cows, they wont come to you, but if you sit near them they will come closer to you but take my advise leave them to graze, I know its tempting to go stroke or feed them, but you will only stress the cows and they are doing a great job over there keeping the bushes down ;)

. See ya for now, Ill try catching that Heron another day, I hope, if anyone see's it let me know.

Reservoir over the last three months

Hi folke's its me again, I haven't been on blogging much and I'm very sorry for that, but I'm back with photos of the birds I have come across down by Netherton Reservoir, just to recap on why I do this blog, well its to show people who don't know the Black country very well, that nature surrounds us here and we are not just a black hole swallowed up by the bygone age of the Industrial Revolution, and that we have some pretty amazing wild life around these parts, and lovely places to visit with the kids and its all free, woo hoo,  from the Reservoir, to Dalton's Clay pit, to the Woods at Salt Wells Nature Reserve, to the Canal and Daphne's Pool, where you can see many different variety of Dragonfly there.

I'm very proud of where I come from and absolutely love the wild life that surrounds me,so onwards and upwards, what have I seen on my travels around here over the past few months, well loads and I'm just about to show you my best shots of the three months.

Gulls Gulls everywhere, notice I say Gulls and not Sea Gulls, a little tip for you there is no such thing has a Sea Gull, Herring Gulls used to follow the fishing boats, but here on the Reservoir we have a variety of Gulls

I'm not to sure what these little guys are called,(below) but because I only have a bridge camera, my zoom can't get to see them large enough to photograph them, but one day they will swim close enough for me to get them, they are cute little things but just can't get close enough, so frustrating at time lol

 Ah my favorite of the water birds, the Grebe, they never fail to grab my attention, nor the one fisherman, has he said where ever the Grebe is he will always fish near him, because that's where the fish will be

 These gave me a little smile when i saw them, Tufted Ducks lovely little birds

 This little Robin kept me company for most of January, every day he/she would appear singing and grabbing my attention, all of the Robin pictures are of the same bird, over the period of January, I thought one day we had grown accustom to one another, I just wondered the one day would he hop on my hand and he nearly did, then a car drove past and that was the end of that.

                                           

I hope you have enjoyed the pictures I have taken over the Winter months, cause I sure have enjoyed taking them, so come on down to the Reservoir, you never know what you might see, but if you see a mad woman with a camera hanging off some tree somewhere or lying on the floor, I think you will know its me, and stop for a chat any time.

Right till I blog again have a great weekend folkes and get out there, where ever you live, it costs nothing, this weekend weather permitting, ill be hitting Saltwells Nature Reserve or to me the woods, trying to catch the Woodpecker I keep hearing, but to no avail have I found him yet, but I will blog soon guys  ;)

January 2nd

After yesterday's excitement of seeing a Cormorant at Netherton's Reservoir, I returned today with bated breath, but atlas the Cormorant had gone, not that stopped the rest of the birds down there, putting on a display, was it, the mild weather??, I'm not sure, but if you just stood, you could be forgiven, for thinking, it was  the first day of Spring, from the birds in the tree, singing and chatting, to Coots posturing and chasing one another, YES I did say Coots                                       
                                                                                                   

but my firm favourite to see down there, is the Grebe's, and yes one had returned, I had seen it on New Years Day, but in my excitement over the Cormorant, I had forgotten to mention it

I think he/she is A Great Crested Winter Grebe, but my knowledge of Bird names are limited, as I have only just started on, my getting out and about quest with my camera, so if anyone knows their birds, feel free to let me know, if I get any wrong, so on wards, what else was over there, well, Gulls galore, a couple of Morhen's, and a group of Mallard Ducks, all very animated and vocal.

two Gulls chasing one another 

Mallard Ducks, but there seems to be one slightly different to the others and I haven't a clue what breed it is, so again if any one knows feel free to let me know.

the other none water birds, that was flying and chirping around, was a couple of Robins, loads of male and female Black Birds, Carion Crows, Magpies and my two favs ( well one I don't know the name a tiny little Black and white Bird in the tree) and the other a Blue Tit.

So those are my gems from January 2nd 2013, so hopefully there will be more coming out for an airing on January 3rd, till I blog again, stay safe and healthy and get out there, there's plenty to see 

bye for now 

  

First of all Happy New Year, to one and all, well on this first day of 2013, I woke up to a full moon in the sky, followed by brilliant Sunshine, what could anyone more ask for, so donning my boots grabbing my Camera, off I trott to Netherton Reservoir, what was I expecting to see well, coots, gulls, ducks and maybe if I'm lucky, a Swan, but "Oh Boy" was I surprised.

All my life I have lived and played as a child around Netherton Reservoir, many a day with my string tied empty Jam Jar and green fishing net, but never have I seen this sight.

The first thing I noticed as I approached the first bench at the top of the Reservoir, was the noise the Gulls was making and the display they was showing, my eyes was immediately drawn down by the Canal House and the opening, my eyes quickly scanned across the reservoir and there to my amazement a large bird, brown in colour on a buoy ,with wings out stretched, has if drying them off in the sun, I knew what I was seeing was special, but what was the bird.

It wasn't a Grebe, it was way too big, but it dived down like a Grebe under the water, all I could do was snap away, what was this bird doing on a Reservoir in the heart of the Black Country, what was the Bird called, would it be there tomorrow, we will have to wait and see, I will endeavour to go and see, I rushed back to look at the pictures, knowing all too well this is not the best camera for long range shots, but I tried my best with what equipement I had, so here goes with my photo's

 
I hope these pictures are enough for people to identify it, so if there are any bird people out there, please let me, what it actually is, I'm leaning towards a Cormarant, but I'm still not sure, please get in touch with me if you know, but what a New Years Day present I had and little ole Netherton Reservoir, in the heart of the West Midlands, who would have thought ;)

Have a great New Years Day

Andrea