WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY

Yesterday, I told you a little bit of why Strangford Lough was so important.  If you missed that, CLICK HERE.  Apart from the National Trust looking after 6,000 hectares of shore and seabed, they are also managing 200 hectares of woodland, saltmarsh, wetlands and fields in agriculture working closely with the farmers in these areas.  They own 24 islands in the lough and manage a further 26. Today, I am showing you one of the waders called the Oystercatcher.

This Oystercatcher above appears to have a shortened right leg which made it lean over to the side when it walked and at times it nearly fell over.  You can see in the last two images what i mean.  The bird below is having his lovely daily bath.

The bird above is not the deformed bird that is bathing but i enjoyed taking the sequence of shots although I usually video this action.  

I think you can see from the 2 shots above that the bird in the foreground is not right.

I am linking this post with WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY.

Tomorrow i will show you a few shots of the Common Gull and Herring Gull for you to see the difference.

Many thanks for your visit and also your comments.

THROUGH MY LENS

This is a photograph I shot on Strangford Lough, near Newtownards.  It is an Area Special of Outstanding Beauty and a site of  European importance for nature conversation. It is designated an Area of Special Scientific Interest, a Marine Nature Reserve,a Special Protection Area and a Special Area of Conservation under the European Birds and Habitates Directives respectively.  Most of the lands in the  National trust's care is intertidal and intermittently covered by the sea, comprising 6,000 hectares of shore and seabed.  

Tomorrow I will tell you a little more about this important area and show you one of the many waders to be found on its shores.

I am linking this post with THROUGH MY LENS.

Thanks for visiting and also for leaving any comments.

SUNDAY THOUGHT

See how he scatters his lightning about him,

bathing the depths of the sea.

Job 36:30 

Oystercatcher photographed on Strangford Lough.

February 2017.

Many thannks for visiting and also for your comments.

Have a Blessed Sunday.

SATURDAY CRITTERS - VIDEO of Miss G and Eiffel Tower Giraffes

One week ago I showed you images of Miss G and Eiffel Tower Giraffes and today I am showing you a VIDEO I took of both of them at a small game park near Blantyre in Malawi. If you missed the previous post, CLICK HERE.

I am linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS.  

If the video does not appear below, CLICK HERE.

Many thanks for visiting and also leaving comments.

FRIDAY'S HUNT and WEEKEND REFLECTIONS

Once again I am linking with Weekend Reflections and Friday’sHunt and today's prompt is H, Favourite and Shadow so I below is Mount Stewart HOUSE with a REFFLECTION in this pond.  Then these are SHADOWS I photographed at the beginning of the walk in the play area at Mount Stewart ffollowed by Moi in a costume HAT and then HEARTS that my daughter Judith made in Malawi and has HANGING on a branch that she has painted white. 

 I hope you enjoyed this post.

Many thanks for visiting and also for leaving your comments

GOOD FENCES - Mount Stewart Demesne (Part 3)

This is the part 3 and final post for showing you my photographs from walking round Mount Stewart Demesne with Toby, the Ranger and other members.  If you have missed the other 2 parts this week, CLICK HERE and CLICK HERE

 I am linking it to GOOD FENCES.

Many thanks for your visit and also your comments.

Mount Stewart Demesne - ( Part 2)

This is part 2 of the posts that I am showing you of some of my photographs from walking round Mount Stewart Demesne with Toby, the Ranger and other members.  If you missed part 1, CLICK HERE

Toby,the other Ranger, Andrew and volunteers are monitoring the Red Squirrel numbers and trying to encourage them rather than the Grey Squirrel.   This  penultimate image shows a very clever device where if a Grey Squirrel comes for food, that grey rectangular area will have some of its hairs on it (Grey).  They do not feed the Squirrels all the year round and make sure they place half hidden food for them in different areas of the woods.

Many thanks for your visit and also your comments.

WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY

I saw this bird several times when Judith and I took our very early walk in Malawi however I was not sure what it was.  Jo hedges (blogger) and her husband Grant as well as their SIL helped me to ID it as a Steppe Buzzard.  

I am linking with WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY.  

                      Many thanks for your visit and also your comments.

THROUGH MY LENS - Mount Stewart Demesne (Part 1)

Recently one of the rangers Toby, took myself  and other member on a guided walk round the Nationa Trust Demesne at Mount Stewart.  Last year they purchased the remaining acreage of the estate.  This is part 1 of the images I photographed that day, the remaining parts will be published on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.  Toby firstly showed us the play area which is totally natural and features all the creatures from a book called The Magic Ink Pot which Edith, Lady Londonderry wrote.  This book is being republished this year again.

This is the group of staff and volunteers listening while Toby explained how the whole demesne is laid out over the 1000 acres.  It will be exciting to be able to buy The Magic Inkpot and discover what part all these creatures played in the book.  Lady Edith wrote the book for her five children.  Enjoy and when it is published I will let you know how you can obtain a copy (some of you asked me about this when I played Nanny Stevenson at Mount Stewart in October when the book was referred to) 

 I think children will love playing and climbing in this area and I hope you enjoyed seeing part of it today.

I am linking this post with THROUGH MY LENS

Many thanks for visiting and also for leaving comments.