27th May..... 'Tis all Happening.

Cow parsley is adding a white edging to many of the footpaths and lanes.

The new leaves on the mature beech trees looking fresh and tender, quickly cutting out the light to the woodland floor where the bluebells are now fading.

Passed a holly blue on the cow parsley.














Male linnet singing from amongst  the mayflowers at the pinnacle of a hawthorn.

Early morning and a common red damselfly is quite torpid allowing for more close-up photos.

Was told of fox cubs near-by so set up my trailcam, which enabled some interesting stills and videos of a vixen along with three cubs.

In the garden, blackbirds also busy feeding young, sometimes taking away mini suet pellets.

Blue tit enjoying a bath while keeping an eye on what's about.

A few days later went back to pick up the trailcam and came so close to a cub, a first for me.

Stewart.
Images Copyright : Stewart Dennis.

23rd May..... Big Garden Sit Viz Mig Session, Week Nine.

My List :

Stewart's List :

21st May..... Emerging Damselfly.

Friday the 8th I noticed empty nymph cases from damselfly on the miniature bulrush that's growing in my small pond. Knowing that they emerge early morning had a look before breakfast on Saturday and one had crawled out of the water and was emerging. Amazing metamorphosis. I watched from around eight till ten as it finished emerging from it's case and started expanding  by pumping it's body and wings. Also noticed it's body colour change and a Large Red Damselfly appeared.

Meanwhile the starlings are busy feeding their young and bringing in larger beakfuls as the young grow. Stewart.

Images Copyright : Stewart Dennis.

Scary.

Image Copyright : Stewart Dennis.

18th May ..... Ash die-back.

The moorhen also seems to be going up in the world,  having an early morning walk along the top of a beech hedge in the garden.
Later out for a walk, corn looking so green in the warm sunshine.

 

Watched this female orange-tip butterfly first settle and feed on a dandelion head then move on to a bluebell.

Back home and with the day heating up our local wood pigeons come in close for a bath.

Male greenfinch moves off when a female chaffinch comes to the sunflower hearts.

 Nearby ash trees are struggling with ash die-back.

 

Stewart.
Images Copyright : Stewart Dennis.

16th May..... Big Garden Sit Viz Mig Session, Week Eight.

My List :

Stewart's List :

15th May..... Busy feeding Young.

A small group of jackdaws concentrating on searching for insects and moving through the grass and buttercups didn't seem to notice me and came close.

At the time I was standing still enjoying a whitethroat singing moving along electricity cables. 

Woods looking good this time of year and on way back home passed a small suckler herd of mixed crossbreeds, Belgian Blues, Charolais, Limousin and some white faces of Herefords.

Healthy young rabbits about but not far away at home have seen myxomatosis, awful disease.

The cock pheasant seems to have gone up in the world, surveying his patch.

Robins busy feeding young.

As are the starlings probing the lawn for grubs for their young now constantly flying back and forth, carrying in food and taking away faecal sacks. Stewart.

Images Copyright : Stewart Dennis.

Bird on a Wire.

Every Picture tells a Story

The second fatal incident involving Deer & barbed wire locally in the last twelve months.

9th May..... Big Garden Sit Viz Mig Session, Week Seven.

My List

Stewart's List

Both Stewart & myself are equal on our respective lockdown lists at 54 each, not that it's a competition or anything.

7th May..... Shopping for Flour.

A good walk over to our local village shop, heard they had flour, hard to find around here at the moment. Walking past a cottage with the cricket pavilion close by, the club established 1875.

 

Saw a different male starling, in his splendid breeding plumage put in a brief  appearance.

The pair I have nesting in the garden ignored it and carried on slowly feeding their newly hatched young. Incubation period being just 12 days and about three weeks to fledging.

A male bullfinch also started coming onto the sunflower seed, maybe wanting a bit of help filling it's crop which it will regurgitate  when feeding his chicks.

Heard a song thrush opening a snail, opened the garden gate and saw it fly on to the neighbours' shed roof with a small morsel, off to feed it's young I guess.

Dunnocks coming in close searching for whatever they can find underneath a bird table close to the backdoor.

Moorhen's pretending to be a blue tit.

The male and female starlings are constantly feeding their young and as the young grow so will their appetites, a busy time ahead for our breeding birds. Stewart.
Images Copyright : Stewart Dennis.