Pictures

Electric Steam Train in Aldermaston Wharf

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No, of course there is no such thing as an electric steam train. But the headline made you curious, I hope. The reason for it is that the local rail line is currently in the last stages of the line electrification and the overhead power lines we put up about a month ago. While more environmentally friendly than the old diesel trains we currently have it’s not so nice for taking pictures of the steam trains passing through here every once in a while. Today we saw the first steam train coming through since the cables went up.

The train was the ‘Quantock Intruder’, pulled by SR Merchant Navy Class 4-6-2 no 35028 maintained by Clan Line. Here are the pictures I managed to take:

(click on the pictures for the larger versions and captions)

Pictures

Big tree, cattle, butterfly

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It was a very nice sunny spring day in West Berkshire today, so I went for another walk in the countryside near the village. I had hoped I might still be able to see some Bluebells, but couldn’t really find any. Didn’t see anything spectacular, so here are three fairly mundane pictures of a big tree, some cattle in the sunshine and a butterfly on a leaf:

(Click on the pictures for the larger versions)

I hope you had a nice weekend as well, hopefully spring and soon summer continue to be nice.

Pictures

Jay in a tree at Titchfield Haven

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Time for the third set of pictures from my second visit to Titchfield Haven nature reserve. After the Kestrel and the Avocet this time I’ve got a Jay sitting in a tree just off the reserve:

As usual, click on the pictures for the larger version.

Pictures

Avocet in shallow water at Titchfield Haven

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As promised yesterday in the post about the Kestrel I spotted at Titchfield Haven nature reserve here are some more pictures of another bird I watched. This time it’s an Avocet, spotted from the Pumfreet Hide feeding in the shallow waters of the South Scrape:

Click on the pictures for the large versions (with captions).

Interesting fact: The Avocet is the RSPB’s emblem. There are about 1,500 breeding pairs in the UK, some at Titchfield Haven.

Pictures

Kestrel at Titchfield Haven

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Another year, another sunny bank holiday weekend Sunday, another visit to Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve. Of course I took a lot of pictures, some of which I’m going to share over a few posts. To start here’s a Kestrel I managed to capture on picture while it was hunting (I think it managed to catch something, unfortunately I didn’t get that part on picture):

Click on the pictures for the large versions (with captions).

More to come of other birds (and may be the area) over the coming days (or may be weeks).

Nothing but the truth…