Goldie M

[Allan.W.]

Hello again Goldie ,
I think your Willow Tit shots (particularly the first one ) show the fine id points of a Willow Tit really clearly,ie. the Black crown showing a "matt"
finish ,as opposed to being Glossy in a Marsh Tit ,the very "Bull" neck of the Willow Tit ,a Marshes being more pinched,but the clincher and very well shown in your shots (the first particularly ) the very pale wing panel . Also Willow tits do have a tendency to prefer damp overgrown marshy areas such as Alder/Willow Carr ,Lake edges and suchlike,wheras a Marsh is(curiously) more of a mixed woodland species, the last Willows that I saw were in Kent ,you probably know Stodmarsh near Canterbury and that was about 30 years ago . Nice find !
Regards Allan.W.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Allan, I think I see what you mean looking at the photo Mike sent but if I see the Birds again I think I may still need help with
Id's At Penn Flash the area is quite large with lots of small and large lakes plus reed beds, you can walk in a circle a round these with Hides at nearly all of them, they are ideal for bird watching, this one hide i went too is enclosed in the trees but next to the lake it's great to see the smaller birds from, most of the others cover the lakes where the Geese / Ducks/ Heron's etc can be seen, the area was used for coal mining at one time but of course that's all finished and the biggest lake came from the flooding area where the mine was. There's also a Canal along side the lakes.
I'm thinking may be we've so many area's near to us for wild life to thrive now that's why we're seeing so much Bird life, off the top of my head I can think of at least six or seven just near to us, all the mills and chimneys have gone now even the River Irwell has Trout where at one time when I was younger it ran black. Plus the Lakes are near to us as well which makes it a great place now We just need more rare Butterflies Take care Goldie

[Andrew555]

Nice shots Goldie
And good to learn more from those who know.

[Goldie M]

That's what's so good about UK butterflies Andrew, there's always some one to help you with things your not sure about and people with lots of Knowledge to help Goldie

[bugboy]

Hello again Goldie ,
I think your Willow Tit shots (particularly the first one ) show the fine id points of a Willow Tit really clearly,ie. the Black crown showing a "matt"
finish ,as opposed to being Glossy in a Marsh Tit ,the very "Bull" neck of the Willow Tit ,a Marshes being more pinched,but the clincher and very well shown in your shots (the first particularly ) the very pale wing panel . Also Willow tits do have a tendency to prefer damp overgrown marshy areas such as Alder/Willow Carr ,Lake edges and suchlike,wheras a Marsh is(curiously) more of a mixed woodland species, the last Willows that I saw were in Kent ,you probably know Stodmarsh near Canterbury and that was about 30 years ago . Nice find !
Regards Allan.W.

It's probably worth mentioning here that a lot of these 'in the field' diagnostic features are now known to be not particularly reliable when looking at Marsh/Willow Tits, only the calls and songs can be used to be 100% sure of separating the two for anyone except real hardcore birders!
https://www.bto.org/about-birds/bird-id ... illow-tits
There's always a lot of 'ptchooing' going on at the ones I see at Bookham so they're all Marshies, but one I was watching today did look to have a very obvious 'Willowesque' pale wing panel so there is indeed some cross over with these other features.

Nice Goosanders btw Goldie, we are indeed seeing a lot of the same

[David M]

Not been to Pennington Flash for many years, but it's undoubtedly a great spot for birds. Well done photographing the Willow Tit. Lovely specimen.

[essexbuzzard]

Congratulations from me on the willow tit. What you have there is a major rarity these days, and it is almost extinct as a breeder in the south, and declining everywhere. Well done, that earns you a

[Goldie M]

Thanks Bugboy, that was an interesting video, I never realised it was so difficult to tell these birds a part, knowing about their different songs will help if I see them again.

Again a thank you David, Pennington Flash is very important to Bird photographers, when you visit in spring especially, the huge cameras they have put mine to shame The hides are usually full of them, one hide in particular looks over the larger lake and gets lots of different species I prefer the small one where the smaller birds are not having the huge lens it's easier for me.
You say you've been to Penn Flash david so you'll know the one I mean.

Your Green will make me swelled headed if I'm not careful essex, considering I didn't know what I'd got a shot of however brings me back to earth I can't wait to visit there again to see what other surprises a waits Goldie

[Goldie M]

Last year when we visited Gait Barrow I noticed this odd looking plant not yet in flower, I wonder if any one knows what it's called?
I also noticed a lot more Orchids than usual in the different places I visited, I'm not too familiar with plants other than the ones the Butterflies like but to my surprise before they cut the grass at Hall-lee-Brook I saw this Orchid, I hope I've got the names right ( not guilty, I was told they were Orchids if I'm wrong) Goldie

[MikeOxon]

Hi Goldie. Your first plant is a Great Mullein (Verbascum thapsus), which i recall seeing myself in the car-park at Gait Barrows. The others are all orchids. I think the first is probably one of the Fragrant Orchids (there are three similar species), while the other, darker ones, look like Northern Marsh Orchids.

Although I like to photograph British orchids, I do find them quite difficult to identify, without having the chance to examine the whole plant. They are very variable in colour and markings, and also hybridise freely.

Mike

[Goldie M]

Hi! Mike, thanks for your post, it seemed a very strange plant growing out of the rocks at Gait Barrow so I'm glad to know it's name I'll look it up now.
I love the Orchids but you don't see many Butterflies on them which is surprising. I like to take shots of them and look out for any unusual ones. The best group i've seen up to now was in Blean Woods ( not East Blean woods) but the entrance to the woods in Blean village it self. It's a fare way in but once there, there's a carpet of them. If I manage to see them this year I'll post a shot of them.Goldie

[MikeOxon]

Orchids are amongst the most sophisticated of all plants and many have developed extraordinarily close relationships with other species. For example, several of the British species depend on certain fungi being present in the roots, to supply them with essential nutrients. The Bird's Nest Orchid (Neottia nidus-avis) gets all its food this way and has no chlorophyll to enable it to use energy from the sun. Even stranger, the Ghost Orchid (Epipogium aphyllum) spends most of its life underground and only very occasionally sends up a flower spike - usually just after the plant has been declared extinct in Britain

I have occasionally seen Spring butterflies visit Orchids but most Orchid species have very specific insect pollinators. The most famous case is 'Darwin's Orchid' (Angraecum sesquipedale) This species has a very long spur, which led Darwin to speculate that the flower was pollinated by an undiscovered moth with an exceptionally long proboscis. The moth was eventually discovered after Darwin's death and is regarded as a remarkable prediction from Darwin's theory of evolution.

[bailey1409]

Hi Goldie, Mike

I think that your first orchid is a Common Spotted Orchid.

Thanks

Maurice

[MikeOxon]

Hi Goldie, Mike I think that your first orchid is a Common Spotted Orchid.Thanks Maurice

I think you may well be right, Maurice. The flower spike is probably too dense for a Fragrant. I looked at the photo for a while and thought that, if it was an individual flower at that location then Fragrant deemed a likely candidate. It'd be nice to see the leaves.

[Goldie M]

Thanks Maurice , I must admit I like photographing Butterflies more than flowers and yet It's the flowers that attract them and when they land on a flower this is more interesting to me than say, just seeing a Butterfly on a stalk of some kind or a leaf.

I've just been viewing your shots of the Orchids Mike and the shot of a field full of them will take some beating, i've never seen so many together before. Usually they're just odd one's in the fields . In the Dunes at Southport there seems to be more and more appearing, I'll take some shots of them this year and it will be interesting to check them from the list you've sent. Goldie

[Wurzel]

Lovely shots of the Orchids Goldie I'm not really up on my Botany being a Zoologist by trade so I won't put my tuppence worth in on the ID, I'd only as far as 'Plant', 'Orchid' and other 'Orchids'

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Me too Wurzel, but when I take photos of flowers I'm curious to know what their called, just call me Nosy ! Goldie

[Goldie M]

Totally miserable weather lately, rain ,sleet, snow, but the birds are still visiting the garden, flying in quickly and out again at the same speed, no wonder!
This morning I spotted another Tit, whether it's Willow, Marsh or Coal I'm not sure, it was cloudy and wet at the time so the shots were taken through the Kitchen window , the weather did brighten up later and I put some grapes out for the Black Birds who visit every day for them and have become a favourite of mine with the exception of course of the Robin (I managed a quick shot of a Black Bird taking a Grape )
Also visiting the garden were Chaffinch, Great Tit's, and Long Tailed Tit's, we're back in the rain/sleet again now so it's time for an Hot Chocolate Goldie

[Neil Freeman]

...This morning I spotted another Tit, whether it's Willow, Marsh or Coal I'm not sure...

Hi Goldie,

If that's the one in the last two shots, it is a Coal Tit.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Goldie M]

Thanks Neil, it's the Coal Tit that visits us regularly then, I wasn't sure after seeing the Willow Tit at Penn Flash, I'll figure them out hope fully one day Goldie