Up to two weeks ago,..when these pictures were taken,..where you see the group of Swans,..that is normally Meadows,..there is a small road leading off the main road which goes right along the Canal,..which is on the right of these shots,..leading to the river Shannon,..where my Dog 'Molly' is paddling about is part of the road,..behind her should be the river from beyond the wooden structures you see way behind her. And then there were two,..the Swan Mating Dance began.
Gosh Philip it looks as though you've had even more rain, hail and snow than we have!! I sincerely hope that the waters have now receded and that the swans have found somewhere safe to nest. By the way those are excellent shots and it's good to see Molly is enjoying herself to the full. You've just got to adore a dog than loves to play in water don't you?
Quite nice foto's again... The swans were nice to see, but what got my interest especially were the ones of water and sky. You captured some magical moments there, mate.
Hi Eileen,..lots of rain and high winds,..some ground frost but thankfully no snow here since 2010 I was worried about the nesting places the Swans seemed to be considering,..little areas of dry ground surrounded by water,..normally that would be ideal,..however those little areas of dry ground happened to be right in the middle of a huge meadow Thank you for your nice comment about the shots,..its from my new camera,..still getting used to it,..have not found Macro yet,..oh Molly is in her element not a care,..providing there is water to play around in.
Hi Sjoerd,..Swans are always a welcome sight,..only the one species here just now,..the Mute Swans,..soon we will have the Bewick's and Whooper,..more noisy but in huge flocks,..oh Swallows are here this few days. Locals are used to the Sky views and don't comment,..however i am in awe most times,..its very flat hereabouts and the clouds come down fairly low,..if one is on the Lake you would find it hard to know which side was up or down. Cloud Reflections on our Lake Video===Clouds and Water on our Lake.
That was a nice vid. Here where I live, the ground is flat and I am used to seeing lots of sky. I love it. The openness and the changes...including water dust takes it to the next level. Cheers for the vid.
Sjoerd,..thank you for viewing the video,..so your area is also flat,..i wonder were you flooded during the winter?. I watched those Swans performing the Mating Dance and waited for them to make that shape like a heart,.. which because of their long necks eventually happens. Water Hen. Mallard 'Drake'.
Fankly I think you need much more practice with that new camera so take lots more shots and videos so that we can see your progress with it.
Thank you Hank,..there are areas of this camera that i have yet to figure out,..i need to sit down and do nothing else but study the manual ================================================================================= Eileen,..i really do need more practice,..just today i was taking some pictures with this Camera,..still couldn't find the Macro so i used the Phone Camera for Macro,..
On the 19th of April i decided to go to the same spot hoping i could get nearer to the river bank,..not a hope!,..three quarters of the road was now flooded,..with Swans swimming across the road. In the distance on the left where the water is calm,..that's the river. Zoom in. Huge Flock of either Godwit or Redshank.
I thought the flooding was bad here but I think you've outdone us over there Philip. When the water receded, which I presume it now has, was the road damaged in any way? Here cracks and pot holes appeared and had to be filled in and repaired. Some of our fields still have flooded areas but, thankfully, they are slowly getting smaller. I don't think I've ever seen so many Godwit and Redshank together before. There must have been something really tasty for them to congregate in such numbers.
I enjoyed the photos and the video very much. Has the water gone down any yet or is it still flooding?
Hi Eileen,..Hi 2ofus,..the water only receded two weeks ago,..i haven't gone there since to see the road,.. though i suspect it has cracks as this happened to the roads close to the river here in town. Our fields are still flooded though with all the sunshine of late the grass should be seen soon,..i wasn't flooded as i am on high ground,..hope you were not flooded Eileen. Yes that was a huge flock of birds as you mentioned something tasty thereabouts. 2ofus,..delighted you viewed the video and liked it
We don't see many of these,..'Great Crested Grebe'. Terns,..and a few Crows. Rabbit and Blackbird. Rabbits are not native to Ireland,..the first recorded Rabbit Warren was on Lambay Island off the East Coast,..they were introduced by the Normans,..they come in grey to light brown in color and are Decendants of Domestic Rabbits.