Winter Swans

As it was such a sunny day we decided to go and see a group of winter swans we had heard about at Wroot - we were surprised at the numbers we found; 62 Mutes, 32 Bewicks and 58 Whoopers. Typically, as soon as we got there the sun went in and the cloud cover left us with barely any light - unfortunately the Bewicks were just too far for any decent shots so just Whoopers below.

Emerging Snowdrops

At last the sun is out - it seems quite a while now since we last saw it so a good opportunity to go in to the park and photograph the emerging Snowdrops.  They have been poking through for a couple of weeks now but it has been so cold and dull that it just wasn't worth trying to get some shots and I have to say after taking about 50 shots this morning, this was the only one that was anywhere near sharp and correctly exposed - try as I  might I just could not get the macro to focus where I wanted and not where it wanted - I'm sure I never had this problem with the Canon but the Snowdrops will be out for another month yet so practice will hopefully make perfect.

The birds were on good form also, whilst stood in one spot I could see 20+ Redwings, 1 Treecreeper, 1 Goldcrest, 2 Bullfinch, 2 Goldfinch, 2 Mistle Thrush, small Tit flock and numerous Blackbirds and then along came a dog walker straight through the middle and the whole lot was gone,  now I like dogs and I like walkers but put the two together and ...........

A summary of Thailand

So where to begin,  I suppose it has to be the birds and two in particular - Gurney's Pitta and Spoon-billed Sandpiper. The tension and excitement in seeing these birds was immense and the experiences will always remain with us.

Gurney's Pitta

Spoon-billed Sandpiper

 

But then the other Pittas started to show and we were left wondering who took pride of place; the Gurneys, the Banded, the Eared or the Blue all  stunningly beautiful.

Banded Pitta

 

..and as the days ended the night birding took over and we begun to wonder did this surpass the day time birding, we were in awe of  Javan Frogmouths, Oriental Bay Owl, Brown Wood Owl and a pair of Brown Hawk Owls. An hour or two's trek up a mountain side in heavy rain in search of White-fronted Scops Owl was the only disappointment but even that holds strong memories

Javan Frogmouth

 

Of course this little beauty was my star of the trip - we took about a hundred shots and five minutes of video of this little fellow and savored every moment

Rufous Backed Kingfisher

 

and then the excitement of the Similan Islands where so many people had told us not to go as we would not see its star bird but the lure was too great and the Nicobar proved to be the easiest bird of the trip

Nicobar Pigeon

Khao Yai NP holds strong memories for good and bad reasons - the good being the sounds of the gibbons echoing across the forests and our good fortune at being able to photograph them - the bad in being eaten alive by mosquitoes and sucked dry by leeches
White handed Gibbon

And finally the overriding images in my mind will be the people, the temples, the food and the stunning scenery

Phrang Nga Bay

 

The boat that broke down - twice!

James Bond Island

Ao Nang

One of many orchids

Khao Lak

The food, the people and us!

I would recommend anyone to go to Thailand whether you're in to nature or not but be warned for Anglo-Saxons such as myself the heat and humidity is a killer but the beauty of the place and the people is a must!

Wat Pho - The Temple of the Reclining Buddha

I had nearly forgotten these images, how I don't know as this Buddha is the most impressive statue I have ever seen - The Reclining Buddha is 46 metres long x 15 metres high and gold plated!  

Just a few more......

Just found some better shots of Pond Heron together with one of my favourite birds of the trip Whiskered Treeswift unfortunately this shot does the bird no justice but it was the best of a poor batch.  Lastly a shot of a butterfly - the only one we got despite seeing dozens of different species they just never seemed to land!

Further Oddments

Here we have 1. Pond Heron sp (probably Chinese Pond Heron), 2. Little Cormorant, 3. Long-Tailed Shrike

Thailand oddments

Not many Thailand images left now - below we have Cinnamon Bittern, Eastern Reef Egret and Pallas's Gull

Burton Hills and the River Trent

I'm sorry but here are more snow scenes, we Brits are obsessed with the weather and this particular run of cold snowy weather has us all in a twitter.  Here at Normanby we only have 5 inches of snow but other parts of the country have up to 18 - still 5 is enough for us and our garden birds.  Our feeders have literally got birds queuing up to use them and tomorrow I'm going to try and photograph them so hopefully at least no more snow scenes for a day or two!  The images below were taken on a walk to the next village along from us, Burton Upon Stather and the views over the River Trent.

 

 

Wat Arun - The Temple of Dawn

Sitting here looking out into our garden and over the fields I find it strange to think that just 4 weeks ago today I was taking these pictures in 35 degrees+.  It hasn't risen above freezing here in Normanby today and we have had frequent heavy snow showers all morning - I remember thinking in Bangkok that I would do anything to be able to switch the heat and humidity off, now I would do anything to switch it on!

Not more snow scenes in Normanby Park

 

 

 

 

 

 Well Britain is still in the grip of the 'big freeze' and the media is loving it - it is currently snowing quite heavily in Normanby and the park is quite beautiful.  I went in to photograph the deer but they were hiding away in the pine plantation so more tree scapes I'm afraid.

Spoon-billed Sandpiper at dusk and dawn

Red-necked Stint

Even after nearly a year of using blogger I'm still learning and it is still driving me mad - after 100+ posts I have been unable to stop the automatic underlining of my text so decided today is the day to crack it.  In my efforts I noticed I was using an old edition of 'post editor' so having upgraded it  I can now move images around without losing the ability to 'click to enlarge' but as hard as I try I cannot get this text off the centering option and I just know that my next lot of text will be underlined!