Arundel Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust

Today I went to my local wetlands trust where I am a member, I took quite a few pictures but thought I would post a few and then I can post more if you would like.
A little cutie

This one was getting ready to take the plunge off a lookout.

I asked this one if he would like his picture taken and I couldn't believe how he posed.

A couple of views from the Sand Martins hide



These two cygnets did everything in unison. There heads were up but then they dissapeared under the water, you can still see their beaks under the water

Some lovely wild flowers

Mr Ruddy Sheldrake


I have more if you would like.
littlewid-x-

More please LW. What a lovely area, its great that you can get so close to the wildlife to get some really great photos. It looks nice, and peaceful there as well, bet you, and your Mum had a great day
WS

Some gorgeous photos there Littlewid. What a great place it looks. I love the fact you could get up close and personal to get some wonderful photos. We really do have some fantastic wildlife in the UK and it's great that we can appreciate it.

I especially love Mr Ruddy Sheldrake - yes please for some more ......................

Lai

Thanks WS & Lai I am out this evening but I will post some more for you to see. I do love the place and the birds are just adorable.

littlewid-x-

Lovely LW. It looks like a really nice place to go for some peace and quiet, also to feed the birds.
Reminds me a bit of Stanwick Lakes, near to me where AM goes with Milly.

SM

It is a place where you can enjoy some peace and quiet, usually if you go into one of the many hides it is a lot more tranquil, if your milling around with the birds that are wandering it can be pretty noisy, they like to make their presence known
Heres a few more pics.

Couldn't get too close to this guy as he was sitting on the island below

Well he wasn't sitting in this actual spot, it was a bit further a long but this is a nicer view. It's a netted over area to keep some of the birds safe and also if they are on special diets so they can't be fed by the visitors.


This was as close as I could get to this big guy, he did have his eye on me and I knew I had got close enough, so I obeyed his rules.

This little one was playing if you want to photograph me then chase me through the grass. He wasn't scared, he was definiately playing a game of moving forward and then checking to see if I had followed, if I stayed still he came back and if I went to take a picture he moved forward, so this was taken on the move.


Some lovely bullrushes, was trying to be clever with the picture but failed a little


I do have a few more and one lovely fellow if you want more......don't want to bore you all.

littlewid-x-

Some really lovely shots LW, it does look a great place to go. Chase me looks a real character , and whats wron with your bullrushes shot it looks really good.
YES MORE PLEASE, never bored with wildlife pics
WS

More, for sure, you can never see enough of lovely wildlife photos. Enjoying them all Littlewid, and the artistic bullrushes It definitely looks like a good day out there

Lai

Thanks WS & Lai, glad you like them Heres a couple more.

This handsome fellow just walked out of the bushes and stopped for a picture

He kept wandering round my feet so it was difficult to get a good shot of him, I think he thought I had some food but sadly I had run out

This was a case of now you see him, now you don't and why don't I have a faster shutter speed. There was a bumble bee on this yellow flower but as I snapped he went.......thought I had him though but the flower is a lovely colour.

I will post the last few when I get in from work.
littlewid-x-

The flower is beautiful anyway Littlewid - so never mind the bee, they never stay still long enough, like butterflies

The pheasant is very fine, can't decide if he's a she and a Golden pheasant or a Lady Amherst's pheasant or just a pheasant anyway it is beautiful.

Thanks for posting more photos Littlewid, looking forward to tonights selection .

Lai

Great to see the Pheasant LW, did'nt know there were more than one species. The flowers great LW, and as for the Bee dont worry the ones I posted on September Walks of the Bees were the only two decent ones I got out of about 12 shots, and the Bees were missing off most of them
WS

I didn't realise there was more than one kind of pheasant and silly me didn't think to look to see what kind he was, I was so surprised he popped out of the bushes my sense dissapeared. It was a shame about the Bee but as you say, they are constantly on the Buzz.
Some more pics.
The Swan Family. They were on the wriggle too because as soon as you got them all in shot one moved out then came back in and another one went, so this isn't brilliant but at least they are all there

Always good to capture the backside and the one with no head

This is the walk down to the restaurant

Follow my leader

Posted one of him before but this fellow was one of my favs.

Don't think i've posted this one yet, the two in the middle do have heads really

This little guy was so bemused by this sprig of plant, he really didn't know what to make of it, at first you thought he was seeking out dropped seed but he was genuinley bemused by the plant

One of the views from the restaurant windows and im really pleased with it as it was taken through glass.

Well thats all of them guys. It really is my favourite place round here and it's only a few miles up the road, so I do go there quite a lot. Hope you've enjoyed all the pics.
littlewid-x-

Thanks Littlewid, that was lovely to see all your photos, and what a wonderful place to have on your doorstep.

Lai

Thats was brilliant LW. Thanks for the journey, and showing us round your favourite place

WS

Glad you enjoyed it Lai & WS, I loved sharing them

littlewid-x-

As promised in Lai's WWT thread, yesterday I went to my Local WWT in Arundel so thought I would continue to add the pictures here.
It was a lovely sunny day yesterday and as always the WWT was fairly busy and it was just in time for the childrens walk to the Meadow Maze for a story and to hunt out as many insects as they can find. They do the walk and story twice a day.
Here is the entrance to the Meadow Maze.

In the maze there are lots of wooden carvings of all kinds of insects and information about them, but the idea is to have a continuous story and to see if you can find the real insects.
Whos this guy???

Now this fellow we have met before and he is in my other pictures, but I didn't know his name before and he was also very friendly when I first met him and he posed for his picture. Now I recognised him straight away so made a bee line for him, he let me take his picture and then to my surprise he hissed at me and chased me; it made me jump but then I noticed a Nesting Magpie Geece behind him in the bushes, so all Basil was doing was protecting his female who had eggs.
Heres Basil

I didn't want to upset basil so I didn't try and get a photo of him female as it would have upset him, he is incredibly protective.
I moved along a little and came across some Australian Wood Duck.This one was just having a little rest on the path in the shade.

Then a little further down I met some Black bellied Whistling Ducks

None of them were whistling though
Just a little further down there were a few Butterflys flying around, Red Admirals I believe but it is incredibly hard to capture a butterfly, everytime you go to snap they have moved off, but I did capture this little Bee doing what Bees do

I love all the wild flowers they have at the WWT and here are a few more

On with my walk again and I met up with a Northern Mallard

I had been trying to find some baby birds but the only ones I came across even though there had been sightings of many others was some little ducks but they were so far out with their mum the picture is really not good at all but at least I did see some but Lai's chicks are far better than this sighting

Off we go again much further on my walk and I come across the Nene Geese, I have captured these two before but today they were not keen on having their photo taken.

My camera doesnt really do this view justice but it was gorgeous to see the tops of the trees and the skyline.

Took me a while to hunt out the swans this time but I found them in the end.
Mum and dad with cygnet taking a paddle

Mum & dad



Cant remember who this little guy is that ended my walk but I really liked him

That was my Sunday Morning guy's.
littlewid-x-

Some great pics there LW, it really does look a lovely place to visit. I remember it from last year, and great that at last you had the weather. Dont blame you for not upsetting Basil, he looks as though he'd have you up before the Beak
WS

Littlewid - what a great day you had and such beautiful photos. WWT Arundel looks wonderful and I think they are the only WWT that have Nene Geese so lucky you seeing them and getting a photo. All the wildfowl look lovely and the swans really magnificent - i'm so pleased you gave us names as well, water birds are the hardest for me.

I bet you had a wonderful morning and by the looks of it plenty of Thanks for sharing your photos.

Lai

I am so glad you enjoyed the pictures guys and thank you for the lovely comments.......loved the up before the beak WS Basil is a characture and he is actually a lovely bird but he was just doing his job, he has a little harem and he obviously adores them and no-one was getting anywhere near his girls on Sunday.

The Nene Geese are always there Lai and I have taken their photos before but on Sunday they just wanted to stay in the shade so it was a quick photo and then off again as i didn't want to upset them either. I must admit I didn't realise WWT Arundel is the only WWT to have Nene Geese.
I do try and remember as many names of the species as possible but I do often fail with my memory as I did on my last post of the cute little fellow I couldn't remember the name of, I should have written his name down and not tried to trust my memory

I think you may have been on safari last year when I posted the pics Doogs, I have been a few times since then, well a lot actually it is one of my all time favourite places to go, I really do love birds so for me it is a heaven.
I'm glad I found the swans too and my favourite pic is the one with the reflection of the body in the water but I also loved the little cygnet going for a paddle, it reminded me of a child on holiday at the beach with mum and dad.

littlewid-x-