Saturday, 1 January 2011

Bird 112! A Ruff!


With the video camera finally back from the repair shop I managed to get down to Watermead for a New Years day stroll just before it got dark. Near Alderton Close car park I spotted this happy little bird running around amongst the swans and geese. I thought it was a dunlin, having seen one of these down at Watermead before but it turned out to be a Ruff (Philomachus pugnax). Normally Ruffs are quite rare, and difficult to spot, but this one came within a few feet of me. I captured it in slow motion as well. If you look up Ruffs in a bird book you will see a picture of a bird with a large Ruff of feathers around its neck, but this is its springtime plumage. Its also bird 112 for me!




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