ANOTHER WALK AROUND SHAKELY MERE

I only had to work in Manchester in the morning yesterday so on the way back home I stopped off at Shakley Mere with a warm Jacket, Walking Boots and the Camera and lenses. The weather was just right, no wind or breeze, the sky cloudy with a touch of blue and the temperature in the middle 40f's.

The "usual suspects" were there:



Although this one was a bit more fiesty though than last time I was there.





Out on a limb.

 

Halfway through the walk around the Mere I saw this guy serenely watching in the shallows.



Uh, oh I think he's seen me


There was a little bit of mist on the Mere and the Sun was starting to get a bit low but this is how the Mere looked.

 

I think he was quite happy, Joolz. Herons tend to hunch up like an old man and with the sharp narrow beak and piercing eyes they can look the part of a miserable old fella! But they're great solitary natural hunters and fishermen and very hardy. I doubt if there's much that scares them....he certainly wasn't scared of me!!
The Mere did have a bit of "atmosphere" to it that day due to the low Sun and the mist but it wasn't a sinister feeling, more Tolkien like and mysterious.

 

I have thought about carrying around goodies and enticements for the birds, Mum, when taking pics. But a lot of the Meres and lakes carry large notices asking you not to feed the birds due to the risk of infection to the birds.
But, to be honest, I'm not in agreement with the reasons stated on the boards because when you think about it the birds are in a fairly harsh environment, sticking their bills and beaks into mud and water that has all sorts of germs etc in it, eating some, to us, very unsavoury things all in the name of survival.
We also get urged to feed the birds in the garden [and I do] and I don't see why that advice is relevant to garden birds and not those by the Waterside. Herons and the like are a different matter as their diet is more carnivorous. I think though there is a certain respect and distance to be maintained between the casual onlookers and birds especially with regard to Herons, any Raptors, and other more solitary birds, so with regard to the Heron I wouldn't invade his/her "space". It would be interesting to hear other peoples thoughts on the matter!

I'm glad you like the pics, Mum, sharing them on GC is just an attempt to let those having to be stuck in an office or factory working away that time is short in this Life and you've got to use every bit of, it when you can, to see some of the things that can bring a sigh or smile to your face. More to come when I get the chance.

 

There are so many differing opinions from the "Experts" and a lot of those are conflicting. I think feeding the birds has got to have a positive result and has let a lot of birds survive whereas without the assistance they would have died. I do clean my Bird Feeders when needed but again the birds themselves aren't exactly hygienic in their habits!!! Some of these "Experts" need to sample the "Life of Birds" and try surviving out in the cold, wet countryside without the food and shelter they're accustomed to and then see how hungry and needful they would get and what they would then eat and do to survive.
We seem to get so much "expert advice" on what we should eat and drink....i.e: one week we're advised that a glass of wine is good for your health and the next week we're told it's not. the same is applicable to food, we get told not to eat this or that and the next week we can!!!

 

I don't think it's a huge opinion pointing the finger at Domestic Bird Feeders, and in fact there were a lot of protests from a lot of organisations that support the feeding of birds who completely disagreed with that opinion. There's the same conflict of views regarding the use of insecticide/pesticide chemicals by Gardeners where the Manufacturers dismiss the claim that their products affect the beneficial insect population......but that's another argument.