Monday 7 April 2014

Bird-watching

2014-04-06 Ramnasjön1

On Sunday morning I went for walk around the Bird Sanctuary Lake. The swans have moved on (except the few rare ones that live there permanently). Now it’s the gulls that rule! (Somehow “gull lake” does not seem to have quite the same ring to it as “swan lake” though!)

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▲Black-headed Gull (I think. Blackheaded anyway…)▼

2014-04-06 Skrattmås

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▲Goldeneye Duck. I noticed one of these in the river the other day too but then it was too far away from me to zoom in with my camera.▼

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Mandarin Duck (from East-Asia). ▼
I think these “belong” to the sanctuary and are not commonly seen in the wild here. I’ve seen them before in the sanctuary lake, though.

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22 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness that Mandarin Duck is gorgeous.

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    1. The Mandarin does stand out compared to most of our indigenous birds, which aren't usually quite that colourful.

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  2. Those pictures are just stunning! The water, the ducks...you did great!! Made my day!

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  3. they all look so happy.. and the photos are great... so beautiful. throw in a little country music and you can have line dancing gulls...

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    1. The gulls make their own "music" Sandra (hm!)

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  4. I like how they are rowed up in the first two images. A really beautiful composition.

    Mersad
    Mersad Donko Photography

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    1. They obviously like sitting each on their own pole like that, Mersad!

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  5. The Golden Eyes are so beautiful, so are the Mandarins. But I have never seen a gull with a black head and tail!!!

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    1. There are many different kinds of gulls, Ginny. I'm not very good at telling them apart.

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  6. I really enjoy these posts about your town. You see such interesting things and the photos are so well composed. Your world seems orderly, clean and tidy, so Northern European. My tropical world is complex, hot, sweaty and messy. I like seeing other places and other ways of living.

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    1. Just remember you're seeing it through my camera, Louise. And my camera, most of the time, tends to want to focus on the things that please the eye rather than the opposite!

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  7. I can't recall seeing a Mandarin duck in 'real life' before. Not, of course, that I'm seeing it in real life now. Silly me. I'm seeing it through your real life.

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    1. I'm pleased to be counted to your real life, GB! :)

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  8. The Goldeneye duck is one I've never seen before, such a beauty! We do see Mandarin ducks in parks here, but they are not native and I have never seen one in the wild.
    The blackheaded gulls I have seen, too; I think in German, these are called Lachmöve ("laughing gull") but am not entirely sure.

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    1. As this is a bird sanctuary, the Mandarin ducks are hardly "in the wild" here either, Meike. But they are not within the enclosed part of the lake. - Our name for the blackheaded gulls is "skrattmås" which means laughing gull too.

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  9. I'm impressed by that Mandarin duck, so colourful! You are getting to be quite a bird photographer.

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    1. Thanks Pauline. After a couple of years with my 12xzoom camera (used for these photos) I'm beginning to itch for one that would allow me to get even closer...

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  10. Great photos, and they are all lined up. I love the picture of the mandarin duck, fantastic colours.

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    1. The Mandarin duck is a joy to the eye, Eva!

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  11. I loved the first photo with all the gulls sitting atop their own post....so cute yet reminded me of a military exercise.

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    1. They like to sit like that. Not much of military discipline there, though... Possibly war, fighting each other for the posts! :)

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