Wednesday 7 December 2011

Wednesday 7th. December 2011

Nothing more exciting than a walk through Kelsey Park in Beckenham this morning , in strong chilly winds and and a sunny sky .
Mandarins could be seen , tucked away under overhanging branches , but it wasn't until I stopped to talk to another chap with a camera , whom I have met before at Sevenoaks Reserve , that some of the water fowl came to see if we had any food , and it was too much for the Mandarins , and for a few minutes they came out of hiding .

Even though it isn't the breeding season , the drakes looked fantastic .
The females seemed to have a glint in the eye , perhaps because the drakes outnumbered them by a ratio of 4 to 1 .
At least one of the partial albino ? Coots is still around .

The same Winter sun caught the yellow eye of the Tufties too .
And the Moorhen wasn't to be left out of the picture , with it's red eye .
Away from the water , one of the Grey Squirrels showed how to balance ,
while it's friend decided on a more comfortable position .
Lots of berries on the Hollies in the park , but no sign of a Winter visitor .

4 comments:

Warren Baker said...

Still Duck all on my patch ponds Greenie :-)

Mike H said...

Great Mandarin shots Greenie, wish we atill had some locally ,very photogenic.

Ken. said...

Hi Greenie.
Nice photo's of the Mandarin's.
As with much of the wildfowl, they are in their breeding plumage round about now because once courtship has started and they have paired up (but not in all cases)it is a matter of getting back to their breeding grounds and start rearing your. They have to get on with it due to the short daylight hours, that's depending where they go to.

John Young said...

Superb Mandarins Greenie, a lovely duck, Amazing to think that the UK is considered a stonghold for the species which is natively from the far east.