Elmley revisited 30th September

It’s been a while since we last visited Elmley and it looks like the rain that we have had lately has started to put some water back into the depleted water reserves. These Coots certainly seemed to be enjoying it


The wet ground has spawned clusters of little toadstools, growing in little crops like magical fairy houses all over the marshland. What a pretty sight they make with their shiny tops glinting in the sunlight


The grasslands is kept closely cropped by the herds of cows that roam the area. As we approached, a young bull galloped over to proudly show off his latest curly top hair style before running back to woo some of the young heifers.


As we slowly drove along the reserve a little Wheatear landed on a nearby gatepost to watch us. We just had to stop and look. What a lovely pastel colour these birds are, so pretty. The Wheatear sang us a cheery little song in greeting before flying off across the marshland to look for his dinner.


There was not many birds about today so we stopped in the main car park and went for a walked in the grounds around the RSPB house. Today we decided we would try and get some shots of some smaller insects, so it was on with the flash guns and off for some quiet stalking.


However, brother Mick spotted a Kestrel flying about near some trees, so he patiently waited for him to come back so that he could take his picture.


After waiting for ages, Mick finally noticed that the Kestrel was actually sitting in a far off tree all that time just watching him. So admitting defeat he went after some dragon flies instead.


And what a variety of them there were. We came across an area where the sky was full of them. Why they were attracted here we do not know as there was no water or stream nearby, but it looked like they were having a great time flitting all over the place. We watched them for an hour or so until the rain clouds started to form. Then it was time to go back home for a nice cup of tea.

We hope that you enjoyed our trip to Elmley. More pictures from Elmley can be found in our nature galleries at www.voinapics.co.uk

Steve & Mick

September 9th

It was another nice sunny Day at Oare today but the winds were quite strong and there was a definite slight chill to the air. As soon as we arrived a Coot swam past to greet us.


I don’t know if you have ever looked closely, but a Coot has the most amazing feet. Their toes are encased in a lobed membrane that aids swimming. The membrane folds inwards on the forward movement of the foot and splays outwards for thrust on the backward movement. The result is, that they have enormous feet. If you click on his pic, you will be able to see what I mean


As there was not too much about today, we decided to walk a ways around the lake to see what we could find


As you walk around the lake, you need to cross over a dyke by way of a small metal bridge. As we approached the bridge, we spotted a trio of Pied Wagtails playing hide and seek between the spars of the bridge


Making our way back to the front of the lake we stopped to watch some Lapwings flying overhead. Espying us watching them, the Lapwings circled back to perform an amazing acrobatic dance in the air for our entertainment. What superb fliers these little creatures are, it was a simply dazzling display.



The Mute Swan was not in his normal place today. We found him walking along the bank raising his long graceful neck to keep a wary eye on the nearby Graylag Gees.


The Geese were not to be intimidated, and they too stood at full height to stare back at the swan, standing their ground until honour was settled on both sides. Once Settled, they all got down to the serious business of giving themselves a good preening


There were not many other birds within range of our cameras so we just enjoyed the sights and sounds of the countryside, before making our way back home

We hope that you enjoyed our little trip. Further pictures from this and other trips can be found in the galleries at www.voinapics.co.uk please stop by and have a look.

Oare Marshes and a visit to the Military Oddysey

It was pretty changeable weather down at Oare this Bank Holiday Monday. When we started off the sun was shining, but when we arrived there, the thunderclouds had gathered and it teemed down, so waiting patiently, we sat in the car until it stopped before quickly stepping out of the car to take few pics.


Waddling down the bank to greet us was our old friend the Bar-Headed Goose, stopping to pose and show off the lovely markings on her head. We are still not sure of the sex of the Goose but have decided that “she” defiantly looks female.



A little further up an Egret was fishing. The lake level was down a fair bit but the Egret still seemed to find lots of little fishes that were quickly swallowed with great gusto as it waded back and forth on those long legs.



Tiring of fishing in that spot, the Little Egret walked back and forth a few times before taking off and soaring past us with slow flaps of those graceful wings before flying off into the distance.



Quickly seizing it’s chance, a Sandpiper flew to the vacated spot and darted about, looking for any little titbits that the Egret had left behind which were quickly gobbled up.



The black clouds were forming again and the wind was picking up, so we decided to call it a day. But before we went, we stopped by to say hello to the Swan that was still sitting in the same place that we saw it last week, preening in the last of the sunshine. He stopped to sneeze a few times, and you can see why!



We also had a trip to the Military Odyssey show at Detling over the weekend. If you enjoy periodic costumes, friendly helpful exhibitors and a general festive air, you will love this show.


There are scenes from all periods of history from cave man up to present day so you really feel like you have travelled through a time warp to the past.



A big handclap to the exhibitors that put on a superb show. There are a lot more pictures from the show in the Shows and Pageants Gallery at www.voinapics.co.uk



We hope that you enjoyed our outings. More pictures can be seen in the Galleries at www.voinapics.co.uk. Please stop by and give them a visit

Steve & Mick