Barnes Common - A different location and 2 nice discoveries

This weekend I decided I'd try somewhere new to take some photos. I was aware of where Barnes common is, I'd walked past it, been in taxis and buses which went past it, but never actually had a walk through it. So that's what I did. In the process, I made a couple of nice little discoveries.

Discovery 1: the stream that runs through Barnes common is the same stream that runs under Priest's Bridge (when I think about it, where it's located and the direction it runs, it's kinda obvious). I'd crossed this stream at Priest's Bridge many times before, as I was walking to Barnes station, and have been intrigued by this clear running stream, where it went and what delights it had to offer.



I started to explore the stream and saw a few damselflies busy going from one plant to the next. As I got closer to the group of plants they seemed to like, a female Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx Virgo) landed right next to me, giving me a beautiful shot.



Unfortunately, at this point, the damselflies were about as much as I could see on the stream, so I moved on.

As I moved away from the stream I began to notice all of the wild flowers there were in the semi-cut grass. Barnes common seems to be fairly managed whilst being given the freedom to grow slightly wild, allowing lots of beautiful flowers and grasses to call it home.



As I continued my walk I, somehow, managed to spot 2 mating Squash Bugs (Coreus Marginatus) on a dock leaf.



As I continued with my walk I heard a Wren flying about, chirping, but couldn't quite see where it was. I then heard a young wren's call in a nearby tree, so I went to see if I could spot them. That's where I made discovery no. 2.

Discovery 2: 3 beautiful baby Wren's, perched in the tree, doing their best to hide until Mum/Dad came back.





In the second photo, there are 3 babies. The middle one is slightly hidden, looking up, hence why you can't see its face like you can with the outer 2.

I finished my walk via Barnes pond. My aim was to see if there were any other damselflies and also to see if the heron I'd seen hanging out there so regularly wanted to have a photo taken. It would appear not, on both counts.

However, there were a few Mallards to be seen and a group of ducklings as well. Not a bad pay off I suppose.





I also spotted a caterpillar, which I believe is a Buff Ermine Moth (Spilosoma Luteum) basking in the sun on the fence around the pond.



And the final photo from my walk, a nice shot of an Egyptian Goose having a little swim.

Older Photos - Birds & Bees

As you may have guessed already, I like taking photos of birds and, as you might expect, I have a lot of older photos. Here's a selection of some of my best shots (so far...).

The first is a baby Wren I saw at the Leg of Mutton nature reserve in Barnes. I was amazed to see how close I could get to it without it flying away (this shot was taken from about 2 metres away). I think I may have been the first human, or one of the first, the bird had seen as it looked as interested in me as I was in it.

This next shot was taken in my garden. I was outside enjoying the sunshine and noticed this Cuckoo Bumblebee rummaging around in the leaf litter.

I had to put at least one photo of a Robin in this post! This one was seen at the Barnes Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, singing away in the sunshine.

On a visit back to my Parent's, we had a trip to Sandringham. The prize for us was to see a family of Ducklings grazing near one of the ponds. Cuuuuuuuuute!!!



This is our resident Dunnock, who often visits the bottom of the bird feeder to see what's been left by the greedy Wood Pigeons (see below).



This spring we were lucky enough to have a family of Great Tits nesting in the conifer at the back of our garden. The parents were busy at work, feeing the baby with peanuts which, we later saw, the baby was quite capable of getting itself.



A Grey Heron on the hunt at the Wetlands Centre.



And finally, one of our fat and greedy Wood Pigeons. I watched this one eyeing up the crumbs on the tray and then proceed to majestically fail to land on it. This is as close as it got on this attempt; 2 feet on but couldn't seem to get it's balance so gave up and went back to the fence to re-group.

Leg of Mutton Nature Reserve, Barnes

The sun was shining, so I went for a walk to the Leg of Mutton nature reserve in Barnes to see what was about. I'd previously found where the Tawny Owl nest was, so I really wanted to see if I could see anything there.

As soon as I arrived, I heard the call of a Wren in a tree next to the path. After a bit of hunting, I managed to grab a picture.

I went to the Woodpecker nest I found the previous week but it looked pretty quiet and my thinking was that all the chicks had fledged. I certainly heard them in the trees but couldn't see them (these photos are from the previous week).

The only other bird I saw was a Robin, sitting in a tree.

The Tawny Owls were not to be seen. Maybe next time...