There once was an ugly duckling...

...But it wasn't one of these little beauties on the Bridgewater Canal! Cycling along I found them hiding out under the motorway bridge. Whilst the adults were more than a little wary of me, the littl'uns were very approachable. I tried with these shots to set the scene of a happy family, the adults and the babies together. Harder than it looks, I settled for portraits in the end as the gloom of the M60 really adds to that orientation...!

...under the watchful gaze of the parent bird....!

They really are very cute, and are invariably shadowed by an attenedent retinue of camera-phone wielding commuters gawping their faces off at them!

Welcome to suburbia...

Its a strike day, horray! That's a day off for me and i'm not complaining. I was hoping to photograph Owls today, but a turn of events has lead me to be unable to do this, so I resorted to the local water park where I focused on more terrestrial ambitions. I wanted to photograph the loafing ducks and Pied Wagtails, but like all the best plans it all went wrong very early on when I couldn't find any wagtails. Still, loads of ducks to choose from...

I did bring feed with me, but these buggers ate most of it...

As well as a group of Swans. They were so close I switched to a 18-55mm lens, so as to get a wide-angle perspective on them...

Before long at last I found the Pied Wags, and after judicious use of a bag of seed they soon were feeding happily on the tarmac in front of me. A good end to a nice hour!