Tree creepers,Lake Sleepers

It’s funny how a normal stroll can suddenly become really exciting and interesting because you catch a glimpse of something out of the corner of your eye. Standing still and really watching is full of surprises.!

This was one of those days. It started off with the geese flying straight towards me.

These Canada geese announce their flight with a loud series of honks, and they are off.

Walking past an area where we often see great spotted woodpeckers a tiny movement caught my eye. It was a flicker on a dead tree trunk. Staring at the trunk I realised that there was a treecreeper moving up the trunk.Treecreepers never move down a tree they move up fly and move upwards again.

The spindly nature if these legs struck me , they are so delicate with spindly feet but they grip and move about with ease.

This crack is the nest site and the bird was constantly in and out .

The delicate spindly toes have a real grip here reminding me of the grab machine at the arcade! Treecreepers roost in crevices on tree trunks. The Male bird finds a nesting site , the female builds a nest. The nest is filled with materials,twigs etc but there is a soft cup made from moss, spider webs and feathers.I’d love to see them collecting the spiders webs! They lay 5-6 eggs after hatching the young can fly after 15 days, they are independent in only a week, amazing !

I have become more and more interested in birds over the last year and I’m actively trying to learn more. My Mum bought a great bird identification book in a charity shop for me for a brilliant 50p it’s fantastic. I picked up a couple more good books at a garden centre , a good deal but not as good as Mum’s find . I am really enjoying going out of my way to learn more and discover things I hadn’t even thought of.

Below is the 50p star buy – brilliant ( thanks Mum )

This walk of surprises continued onto the boardwalk alongside the lake . I was peering in to see if the fish had returned with the warm weather from their sleepy state deeper down.

I did see some small shoals of small fish and thought ‘ great’. I then had a ‘something odd caught my eye ‘moment.

Was it a fish ? I watched for ages , it didn’t move , it was big , had definite markings it looked like a fish but was it a bicycle tyre?

Here is the video look in the middle and then watch the small fish go by.I tried to photograph the statue like fish which is a Pike with amazing markings.

I used the big lens to try and focus on the Pike.

After about ten minutes it very slowly moved forward and slowly glided out of sight. I need to learn more about fish , I am on the look out for a trusty identification guide!

LEARN MORE !