My Annual Pigrimage to Lemsford Springs

22nd February 2015

Each year I pay a visit to the small nature reserve at Lemsford Springs. The reserve is centred on some old watercress beds and, whilst the number of species that are seen is likely to be low, the opportunities for photography are superb.

I settled into the first hide and surveyed the scene. Right in front of the hide was this statuesque Little Egret, part of the furniture at Lemsford. A small spring of Teal were a welcome surprise with the drakes being most photogenic with their smart summer attire in the sun. A little further along quite hidden in the reeds were a couple of Snipe which eventually woke up and ventured out on to the channel to feed allowing a couple of shots to be taken.

Wagtails were also represented with this smart Pied Wagtail running around at the water's edge looking for some tasty morsels. But then its more colourful cousin the Grey Wagtail put in an appearance, a bird particularly at home beside running water.

But as always the stars of the show were the Green Sandpipers, the bird that Lemsford Springs is most associated with. From a photography perspective it is a shame that the sandpipers carry so much bling in the way of colour rings, but this is part of an important study to better understand their movements and loyalty to various sites and areas.

Well yet another successful visit to this small but well managed reserve and particularly nice to meet fellow photographers Blue Dog Images and Wild One.