Rtas' wildlife pics

I like seabirds :)

I have 3 nesting pairs of lesser black-backed gulls living at my school as well as roughly 20 black headed gulls and they do like to release excrement! I always like visiting cliffs to watch the huge array of species travel out to feed their young.

The photo seems like the oystercatcher is supposed to deliver some money (he hasn't) and the gull is his angry mafia boss and he is going to order some greater black backed gulls to dispose of the oystercatcher!

I really like your interpretation Adam, much funnier and better than mine !

Species : Black-tailed godwit

Spot : Séné salt marshes nature reserve, Brittany, France
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Those black-tailed godwits were photographed in a nature reserve managed by this conservation society I once belonged to. I went there to talk about the consequences of climate change on local biodiversity with the manager but also took the opportunity to do some birdwatching and photography. This nature reserve full of salt marshes is a very good spot to see waders during their autumn migration. This picture is interesting because it shows individuals from the same species can have very different plumages as they are moulting from breeding to winter plumage during this period. The specimen in the foreground, with its reddish chest, is in breeding plumage while the greyish one in the background already wears its winter plumage.

I have never seen any species of godwit but they seem like very nice birds and I like the sound of their calls.

Species : Mandarin duck

Spot : Whiteknights lake, Reading, Berkshire, UK
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I already showed you Mandy, my beloved mandarin duck female, and it was time to show you a gorgeous male. The mandarin duck is my favourite duck species, along with the smew, and on this picture, you can see it in its natural habitat : trees. Indeed, unlike most other ducks, the mandarin nests in cavities in trees. Once the ducklings are old enough to leave the nest, they leap from the hole without getting injured and follow their mom to a nearby body of water where they join with the male who also takes care of the chicks.
Mandy's mate was named "Ben" after me but this one is just an unknown male.

Here is Ben the duck :
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You can't go wrong with a mandarin, unless you're a woodpecker or an owl

Advicot wrote:

You can't go wrong with a mandarin, unless you're a woodpecker or an owl

Even owls seem to get along with ducks of the mandarin family :

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Only in the USA

Species : Sanderling

Spot : Pornichet's harbour, southern Brittany, France
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The sanderling is a very special sandpiper. It is one of the only European small waders who prefers sand beaches rather than muddy shores. And it is probably the only one who is better looking in winter plumage than in breeding plumage. Indeed, the sanderling looks like any other sandpiper with its brownish breeding plumage. But when winter comes, it becomes immaculate white and looks like no other. In Pornichet where I used to go on holidays with my parents, sanderlings are common from late summer to spring. They are not timid and can be approached very close as they often prefer to run rather than fly away.

The closest I have ever got to a sanderling is 15cm he/she didn't care about me and carried on looking for food

Species : European mantis

Spot : Brittany's countryside, France
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The mantis is probably the insect which exercised over me the strongest fascination of ever. When I was a child, my grandmother often kept mantis she found in boxes for me as she knew I loved them. We fed them with meat and then released them.
This one was photographed long after, a few years ago, while I was looking for adders with my nature conservation society colleagues. Mantis are not so common in Brittany, they prefer warmer regions. I don't know if there are any in Britain, are there Adam ?

No I don't think so Ben, if they are they won't come any where near my region as it isn't very warm for much of the year. Their best shot is down south around Cornwall where the weather is more pleasant

Species : Mute swan

Spot : River Thames, Reading, Berkshire, UK
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It snowed quite a lot in january 2013. I was in Reading and I remember the campus was completely white. That was beautiful and a very good time for long walks along the Thames river. I am filled with nostalgia just thinking about it...

Oh the mute swans, all on the Thames are owned by the Queen. For the summer of 2014 a pair of swans visited me and my family. They were that tame we could hand feed them. Once the summer was over the two never returned and it just became a pleasant memory.

Oh yes, indeed, I forgot all swans are owned by the Queen in the UK

Nice swans

Species : Razorbill

Spot : Cézembre island, Brittany, France
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Another picture from Cézembre island which could definitely be renamed "love island" ! This razorbill pair seems willing to perform a famous play from Shakespeare !

RtasVadumee wrote:

This razorbill pair seems willing to perform a famous play from Shakespeare !

INDEED!

Before seeing wild razorbills age 3 I thought they were as big as geese!

Razorbills are actually named "penguins" in French while penguins are named "Armless birds", but most French people just think "penguins" are what you, the Britons, call "penguins", that is to say the emperor penguin, king penguin, African penguin... and they don't even know razorbills exist. That's why many French people can't believe there are "penguins" (I mean, what you call "razorbills") in Brittany and they believe they are actually the size of a goose (like the emperor penguin), just like you did when you were a child.

Actually, we, the French, are right while you, the English-speaking people, are wrong. Indeed, the great auk's latin name is Pinguinus impennis and its closest relative is the razorbill. Moreover, the birds you call "penguins" were discovered after the great auk and named "penguins" because of their physical resemblance to the great auk. As a result the true "penguins" are auks (including razorbills, murres and puffins).

Species : Pied avocet

Spot : Guérande's salt marshes, southern Britanny, France
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Ah, the avocet... symbol of the RSPB and probably the most iconic species in salt marshes of southern Brittany. I have known and seen this species since my childhood and I never get bored of watching it. Undoubtedly one of my favourite birds, I definitely don't agree with Pardo who finds it boring and uncharming. It may not be as photogenic as its cousin the black-winged stilt but surely more recognizable and representative of that wonderful region Guérande Peninsula is. This specimen was photographed on the same evening as the first stilt I posted. It was definitely a very fruitful day as far as wildlife photography is concerned !