Reflecting on Blogger.

If anyone out there wondered why they couldn't find either of my blogs from around 8pm yesterday then you will have to ask Blogger .... but like me you won't get any answers. 

After publishing my previous post on the Small Tortoiseshell last evening I attempted to log in again four hours later to review any comments only to find that because of  message stating 'Suspicious / Unusual activity on your account' both blogs had been deleted! With no e-mail explanation from Google and no way to access resetting my blogs via the Dashboard what the heck do I do next? 

I trawled the 'Help' subjects which were less than helpful and after viewing an informative  post on The Real Blogger Status where it indicated that after initiating hacking recovery (which I had previously done) it may take anything from 24-48 hours for my account to be verified as free from any hacked content I decided to wait and see. So when I logged in again this evening I was delighted to see that everything was back to normal but still no explanation. 

Based on the information I gleaned from various sources the so called 'Suspicious / Unusual Activity' may be related to the fact that on many recent posts I had been replying directly to far more comments than in the past so in future you may not see so many responses from me unless a reader / commenter asks a question or I believe their comment actually needs a reply ... I do hope you will all understand.

Yesterday evening I had planned a totally different post but that will now have to wait as I reflect on the past 24 hours without access to my blogs. So here are a few more reflections to take us into the weekend.

Mute Swans.

Tufted Duck.

Coot .. Two heads are better than one!

Wishing everyone a glorious wildlife watching weekend.  FAB.

Linking to Weekend Reflections.

Reflections.

A few images from the recent archives when the sun was high in the sky which doesn't make photography easy but does sometimes produces some interesting reflections.

Young Dabchick.



Great Crested Grebe

Interesting watercolours produced by the sun filtering through the waterside vegetation.

Marbled Teal (Collection species at Barnes WWT)

Terrapin sunbathing.

Still Waters.

The peace and quiet along the river towpath.

Reflections on an almost still lake.

A Tuftie only makes a tiny ripple.

Even the Dabchick doesn't make waves.

And then along comes the heavyweight creating a bow wave and plenty of ripples.

For more Watery Wednesday images, please click this link.

PJB Update: After weeks of apparent brain inactivity there have been recent signs during the regular family visits and confirmed by his Nurses that PJB may be recognising sounds and his eyes appear to follow some movements around him. It is still too early to really understand where this may lead but perhaps the words and prayers will produce even more ripples.  FAB.

Reflections.

Reflective views during a stroll around WWT Barnes this morning.

I'll post some wildlife seen today once I have sorted through the images so in the meantime...... for more Watery Wednesday images click here or the logo in the sidebar.  FAB.

Reflections from the marsh.

It has been raining on and off for the past few days so here are some watery reflections from my coastal mashland visit last week.

I desperately need some clear, fine weather to entice me outdoors.  FAB.

Walking Damp Woodlands.

Late Thursday morning I headed to my usual parking spot near the River Mole but decided to take a totally different route. This time it was a short walk upstream and then heading uphill while trying to stay upright on very sticky, wet chalky footpaths.

Taking a brief rest at the railway bridge before the uphill journey into uninspiring woodland consisting mainly of nude grey Ash trees and a few green Yew dotted here and there. For the first half hour or so it was deathly quiet apart from the occasional 'squawk..squawk' of overflying Parakeets and  'krra..krra..krra' of the local Carrion Crow population.

The verdant green mosses covering previously felled logs and....

Ferns recolonising an old stump show just how damp the understory canopy is throughout this hillside. My journey eventually got me to the edge of Updown Wood where it borders the open farmland with a greater mix of trees including some Birch and Beech. Here the bird life began, at last, with Blue, Great, Coal and MarshTits. Then through the branches I heard a Nuthatch calling and eventually managed a couple of record shots just to prove to you that I actually saw something!

Nuthatch

My attention was then drawn towards a group of Long-tailed Tits and scanning through the flock I eventually located 3 Lesser Redpolls (another tick for 2010) but only a rear end shot..not for publication. 

View over the open farmland and river valley to the 'posh' houses on the opposite hillside.

Lots of 'Old Man's Beard' (Clematis vitalba) decorated both sides of the trackway as I headed

downhill and out into the open fields to see Green Woodpeckers, Jackdaws and several Mistle Thrushes with Redwing feeding amougst the stubble field.

On the way home I stopped at Epsom Common Pond, still partly frozen over, and no water life at all.

 

Only met one dog walker...not surprising with these underfoot conditions. On the edge of the woodland I heard the thin repeated call of a Treecreeper which then flew onto a nearby tree but quite high up.

This is the first time I've attempted to capture this well camouflaged species and the shots in this collage are all cropped slightly.

Finally the reflective quality on the little pond devoid of any fishermen.

Hope you all have a good wildlife watching weekend.  FAB.

Not all black and white!

For many of my readers this 'reflective' view will be familiar, but yesterday in it's winter colours, this was again the start of my walk along the Wey Navigation and onwards into Riverside Park to hunt down the additional species mentioned in my previous post.

My usual route was was under water and I didn't feel brave enough to try even though my feet were suitably protected. So onwards along the desperately quiet riverside towpath.

Pollared trees along the towpath which will provide suitable nesting sites very soon.

Nothing on the river to disturb this tree's reflection.

After a lengthy detour I eventually made it to the lake, mostly frozen, and located one or two water loving species who were confiding enough to be photographed by today's stealthy intruder.

Canada Geese, not quite all black and white.

I spent some time waiting for this Coot to come close enough while changing the settings in an attemt to get a decent shot.

The calm waters provided an excellent mirror image.

Mute Swan, nearly all white!

Male and female 'Tufties'. (Female is the brown one.)

I'm not sure why this guy was carrying a feather....a courtship token perhaps!

Tufted male in full adult plumage, mostly black and white with its blue-grey bill tipped black and long drooping crest.

Now I did see species carrying other colours but they never stopped nor came close enough and on one or two occasions I was either too slow to react or they just didn't want to be photographed!   FAB.

Me and my shadow.

Continuing the seasonal theme. While working indoors today, I spied our resident Robin 'Redbreast' waiting for a vacant perch on one the feeders and casting a reflection on the wall so I took a few quick snaps through the window just for fun.

Still a few tasks to complete before Christmas, but in the meantime many, many thanks for all the seasonal messages from my blogger friends.  FAB

Looking Down.

Another day at home today potting up the last few spring flowering bulbs and a bit of pruning. Attempts to snap the garden visitors was thwarted by their unwillingness to perch out in the open long enough when visiting the topped up feeders so I thought I would share some unpublished 'reflective' images from my recent local patch exploration.

Looking down can be just as rewarding as looking up and it's less strain on the neck!

Above and below taken at a small pond.

Finally two sorts of fungi and I'll be delighted if someone wants to tell me exactly what they are.

Fungi in the wooded area.

This one was growing in the open (arable) field.