Hi Folks. Thought I'd better put something up here as I've not posted for a couple of weeks.. I've been away on a family holiday (self, wife, daughter, and granddaughter) to the north of Northumberland (based in Berwick-upon-Tweed). It's going to take a while to process the images, so here's some stuff from before I went.
We've had a juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker visiting the garden several times a day and, thanks to our house-sitter who kept the feeders topped up, it's still with us now. Strangely, it's only once gone for the peanuts, and spends its time feeding on the fat balls. I've yet to set up to try and get some decent images (too much on elsewhere), but here are a couple taken through the conservatory window before we went away.
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker (juvenile) - our garden |
I really ought to try and do better as, most years (if we're lucky), we only get a fleeting glimpse of a GSW.
Not so welcome in the garden are the Magpies. We're now getting up to five at a time. I've not paid much attention to them, but I think that four of them are well-advanced juveniles.
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| Magpie (juvenile?) - our garden |
On the owl front, I had to go over to my Staffordshire supplier of bird food before we went away. On the way back I called in at my only Staffordshire Little Owl site. Only one bird was visible, at a great distance. I was hoping to see juveniles, as they had a good year last year.
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| Little Owl - my Site No.15 |
The following day I went to my local patch. I was delighted to find an adult and a juvenile out on the roof. This was my first sighting of a juvenile at this site this year. Earlier this week I set myself up in my hide to take some more photos here. I've not looked at them yet, but if they come out OK I'll be posting some after working through the Northumberland images.
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| Little Owl - my Site No.02 |
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| Little Owl (juvenile + adult) - my Site No.02 |
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| Little Owl (juvenile) - my site No.02 |
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| Yellowhammer (male) - at my LO Site No.02 |
Now to get on with those Farne Island images!
Lovely images Richard, your Little Owls pics will always be a favourite to me. I hope you had a good holiday with your family:-)
ReplyDeleteThank you Linda. We had a great time, and the weather wasn't too bad either. I reckon it's going to be at least a week before I'm ready with the images! Meanwhile, others are stacking up behind them!
DeleteExcellent shots. I do like the Magpies. Very interesting birds. As for the owls, what a sight! That roof is really something special.
ReplyDeleteThank you 'Rohrerbot'. I'm getting a bit worried about that roof. It's condition has got a lot worse this year due to some high winds. The more holes there are in the roof, the quicker the deterioration.
DeleteHi Richard, long time no speak! We have the same number of magpies in our garden - they really do take over don't they!
ReplyDeleteHi Christian. Great to hear from you. I think that one of their worst traits is the noise pollution that they create. Mind you, I had to laugh yesterday. I heard one of the Magpies chattering away, closely followed by the juvenile GS Woodpecker replying with an even louder hammering as if to say 'call that a noise!!'.
DeleteGreat sellection Richard,loved seeing the Yellowhammer.
ReplyDeleteJohn.
Thank you John. We're lucky to be blessed with rather a lot of them round here - I usually see several every time I go out birding.
DeleteI like very much little owl photographs in its environnement.
ReplyDeleteMerci Gaelle. J'ai vu votre blog 'Reflets sauvages' - c'est magnifique et trés inspirant!! Vous avez des dons formidable!
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