Hunt for displaying Great Crested Grebe

We travelled to Cosmeston Lakes to see if we could find some displaying Great Crested Grebe. These were not in full display mode but were starting to display:

 

 

Later on we visited our local 'hotspot' for Great Crested Grebe - Llys y Fran reservoir in North Pembrokeshire. We saw several GCG but saw only one pair obviously paired up - but no display. However this individual did approach the side of the reservoir for this portrait:

 



International Salon acceptances

My image of a turnstone at Goodwick harbour has gained acceptance in the 1st. Oxford International Salon of Photography:

 

 

That image was also accepted in the Port Talbot International Salon and they accepted my image of a perched kingfisher as well:

A recent visit to Penclacwydd (Llanelli WWT)

The most interesting bird we saw was a bit of a puzzle. When I took the photograph I thought it was of a female tufted duck. But on processing the image I thought it matched images of a scaup. So it was time to consult the experts - in my case Wendy and Richard. The answer came back as a scaup faced tuftie, i.e. a tufted duck with the face of a scaup. Here it is:

 

 

The other two images shown were also taken from the Sir Peter Scott hide. A pair of arguing cormorants:

And a male gadwall:

Bittern still at the Kingfisher Hide

Good to know that the bittern is still about:

Best image of 2012?

In our photography club (Cardigan Photo Club) we were encouraged to show our two best images of the year. As usual I left it to the last minute to enter. I ended up on the last day for entering images in Builth Wells with only the images on my laptop available to me. As it turned out one file I did have was one from my visits to Gigrin Farm. This image is one I overlooked at the time but I am now very happy with:

Taken with my 500mm lens, ISO1000 f8 @ 1/1250sec.

Another garden tick

Not one that I wanted, but part of our natural environment. This sparrowhawk seems to treat our garden as his special feeding station. Luckily he was unsuccessful this time:

Cormorant flying on the Teifi

Failed to find the bittern and otter again but managed a flight shot of a cormorant from the Curlew Hide at the Teifi Marshes Reserve: