Bearded tit ‘Go now. Hurry. Bearded tits have come early and they’re showing at the Grisedale Hide. ‘
Bearded tit, or Bearded reedling as sound-recordist and naturalist Chris Watson suggests. The reed bed is their habitat. They make their nests of its reeds and purple flowers, feed on its seeds in winter. Birds are calling from the dense reeds, a call ‘ like the clink of a cash register.’ We watch as they fly across the mown space and into the reeds.
Bearded tit, or Bearded reedling as sound-recordist and naturalist Chris Watson suggests. The reed bed is their habitat. They make their nests of its reeds and purple flowers, feed on its seeds in winter. Birds are calling from the dense reeds, a call ‘ like the clink of a cash register.’ We watch as they fly across the mown space and into the reeds.
The Sky Tower looks down upon rafts of chattering water birds. Heron and egret show distinct, the others a huddle of sound.
Perfect weather for breeding dragonflies that zip to and fro in the reeds before the Causeway hide. Sunlight on shallow water stippled with feathers like a late-flowering of water lilies. Mallard roost on branches close to the hide. Cormorant out on the stony island. It is so still that skyscape and the surrounding hills are mirrored in the water - blue sky, then bright white clouds, all shadow, sheen and burnish. Further off, pools of flowering reeds in a rosy glow and the dark green of the woods that rise in the distance. Otter is called by a Scottish lady sitting next to me in the hide. Across the open water, past the cormorant, beyond a pintail moving right, beyond a screen of coot. Trembling reeds on the fringe of the reedbed show its position. It’s up, down, moving under the water, a glimpse of sinuous otter that dives with a splash. She has the otter in her scope, her voice guides me and I bring home an interlude with otter on video.
Perfect weather for breeding dragonflies that zip to and fro in the reeds before the Causeway hide. Sunlight on shallow water stippled with feathers like a late-flowering of water lilies. Mallard roost on branches close to the hide. Cormorant out on the stony island. It is so still that skyscape and the surrounding hills are mirrored in the water - blue sky, then bright white clouds, all shadow, sheen and burnish. Further off, pools of flowering reeds in a rosy glow and the dark green of the woods that rise in the distance. Otter is called by a Scottish lady sitting next to me in the hide. Across the open water, past the cormorant, beyond a pintail moving right, beyond a screen of coot. Trembling reeds on the fringe of the reedbed show its position. It’s up, down, moving under the water, a glimpse of sinuous otter that dives with a splash. She has the otter in her scope, her voice guides me and I bring home an interlude with otter on video.
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