Reed beds and winter trees sunlit What's special at Leighton Moss in December?
White frost glistens at our feet, sunlight illuminates the reed beds, like a winter flowering. We walk to the causeway hide beneath a sky of intense blue shading to icy pallor. All this and birds too.
The hide frames our gaze, our focus on the freshwater pool where Ice reaches from the reed beds, slowing the flow. The blue sky is mirrored in the pool until the gleam fades and we look up to see a breath-taking pattern of flowing cumulus, white on blue.
White frost glistens at our feet, sunlight illuminates the reed beds, like a winter flowering. We walk to the causeway hide beneath a sky of intense blue shading to icy pallor. All this and birds too.
The hide frames our gaze, our focus on the freshwater pool where Ice reaches from the reed beds, slowing the flow. The blue sky is mirrored in the pool until the gleam fades and we look up to see a breath-taking pattern of flowing cumulus, white on blue.
Bright sun gleams on water patterned by ice and free-flow. The warm colour of the reed bed spills over the ice where water birds roost, heads tucked into plumage. A peaceful scene. There are pintail, shoveler and teal on the fringe of the reed beds, scarcely stirring.
Some pintail are feeding. They're dabbling ducks and often show with heads plunged into the water, tails above the surface. They come up clutching a strand of vegetation, beak spilling water like a sieve. Beads of water stand proud on plumage, on waterproof feathers. The male pintail is a handsome bird, named for its long tail feathers. The speculum shows green.
By mid-February the birds will be resplendent in breeding plumage. I wonder when the changes begin to take place, and how quickly. They'll also be in courtship pairs so transitions of plumage and behaviour will mark the photoperiod, the increasing length of daylight hours.
Some pintail are feeding. They're dabbling ducks and often show with heads plunged into the water, tails above the surface. They come up clutching a strand of vegetation, beak spilling water like a sieve. Beads of water stand proud on plumage, on waterproof feathers. The male pintail is a handsome bird, named for its long tail feathers. The speculum shows green.
By mid-February the birds will be resplendent in breeding plumage. I wonder when the changes begin to take place, and how quickly. They'll also be in courtship pairs so transitions of plumage and behaviour will mark the photoperiod, the increasing length of daylight hours.
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