Oldt1mer - Keith's photos with the keyword: Reflection

The Little Egret – Egretta garzetta – is a small white heron with plumes on its crest, back and chest. Eating mainly fish but will also take amphibians, worms, small crustaceans and even the occasional small bird or mammal. More normally seen in the south of England they do venture further northward during winter months. This beauty was seen at Martin Mere Wetlands. This Picture is fully © Copyrighted. None of my images may be copied, reproduced or altered in any form or manner or placed on the internet or any other social media, or in any form of publication either print or otherwise, in any form or manner without my written permission.

This is the Eurasian Teal – Anas crecca – which is a small dabbling duck which breeds in Eurosiberia and migrates south in the winter. Also known as the Common Teal or Eurasian Green-Winged Teal it is commonly found in sheltered wetlands feeding on seeds and aquatic invertebrates. This is a male in nuptial plumage, as can be seen by the white stripe running along his flanks, which was seen at Martin Mere Wetlands. Explore No 254, 19 July 2023. This Picture is fully © Copyrighted. None of my images may be copied, reproduced or altered in any form or manner or placed on the internet or any other social media, or in any form of publication either print or otherwise, in any form or manner without my written permission.

This is the, very cute, Little Grebe - Tachybaptus ruficollis - also known as the Dabchick, which, at 9 to 11.5 inches (23-29cm) long is the smallest of the European Grebe family. A quite shy bird it often remains out of sight hiding in waterside vegetation and if it feels threatened when on a rare trip into open water, will quickly dive and only surface unseen some distance away. Because it is such a great diver and underwater swimmer, its feet are placed towards the back of the body making it rather clumsy on land, which is why it spends most of its its life on the water only coming ashore to breed and occasionally eat. Even its nest is built on the water, using waterweed to make a floating platform. This one was seen in its summer breeding colours at Pennington Flash, Leigh, Lancashire. This Picture is fully © Copyrighted. None of my images may be copied, reproduced or altered in any form or manner or placed on the internet or any other social media, or in any form of publication either print or otherwise, in any form or manner without my written permission.

The Smew - Mergellus albellus - is a small diving duck with a smaller and more pointed bill than usual for a duck which helps as they eat mainly insects, insect larva and fish. They breed across northern Europe laying their eggs in holes high up in tree trunks which they line with down and soft feathers, some, however, visit the UK from Holland and Denmark over the winter months to escape the very cold weather. As you can see, the males are white with black markings, the females and immature males are mainly grey with chestnut foreheads and crowns. Seen at Martin Mere Wetland Center, Burscough, Lancashire. This Picture is fully © Copyrighted. None of my images may be copied, reproduced or altered in any form or manner or placed on the internet or any other social media, or in any form of publication either print or otherwise, in any form or manner without my written permission.