A TRIP TO FRODSHAM MARSH.

I took advantage of the sunshine and patchy blue skies yesterday to grab a couple of hours at a Nature Reserve just outside Frodsham in Cheshire which is not too far from where I live. I've never been there before so this was a trip to get an idea of what it is like. It's a huge area of marshland and reservoirs, [called tanks], flanked on three side by the M56, the Manchester Ship Canal, the estuary of the River Weaver.






There are so many directions you can walk in that it will take quite a few visits to get even a reasonable idea of the huge area of the marshes. I took my camera but not really with the intention of doing any serious bird shots. The hedgerows are full of different varieties of birds so I'll probably spend more than one trip trying to get some good shots of those. The reservoirs, or tanks as they are also called are very large and there are some interesting birds on the water. I didn't help myself this time by sky lining myself on the top of the high earth banks that surround each of the tanks and alerting the birds but I did manage to get some shots.







I sat down for a while by one of the tanks and suddenly realised that the small "island" you can see in the pic above had something on it. The island was more than 400 yards away so it was really on the limit of my 500mm lens especially being hand held, but I tried anyway.



It looks like Herons have built a nest there which is a very safe place from predators. While that is a Heron perched on the island I think that the bird on your right is a Cormorant. I took some more hand held shots but the quality because of the range, the light dropping in brightness didn't help but anyway..






Next time I will put the camera on a tripod and use remote control to try to stop any shake even though the K5 camera has image stabilisation. I might also use a tele-converter, although image quality may suffer, to get more range out of the lens and get closer pictures. Getting reasonable pics of Herons nesting and in flight has got me interested in seeing if it's possible as such a distance!! Frodsham Marshes is certainly an interesting place. I also met these guys while walking around.




The dark pony was very friendly and enjoyed a good scratch of his neck and muzzle. I think he was sorry to see me go!!


I'll definitely be going back to the Marshes as it is a very interesting place and will take some time to explore and get some shots of the birds around there. Plus something for the ponies to nibble on!!

 

I can see why, Bilbo, it's a really large place and so many ponds and tanks to investigate, plus you've got the banks of the River Weaver and the Manchester Ship Canal where the birds gather. I'm looking forward to more visits there. The trouble is there a quite a few other Nature Reserves on my list that I've never visited before so I'm going to have some trouble trying to fit them all in. Hurry up the warmer good weather!!!

 

Not intentional I assure you, Pal, but it's nice to know other folk have been there before. All these Nature Reserves are new to me and I intend to make the best of the time I have off from work and try to visit them all. Getting reasonable shots of the birds is another matter!!!