Sunday, May 31, 2009

male circus



Common tern


the disappearing Wall Brown




now a rare species up here only found in a few locations locally each year -- 20 years ago it was very numerous and widespread -- I don't get many flight shots of butterflies

flying Turtle Doves




very tricky getting any sort of decent image of these birds and not surprising as they have an adverse reaction to humans pointing anything at them a survival tactic hard earned around the Med as we say at Tarifa last September where every bush, tree and hedge was beaten to bits and every bird that came out shot in another EU country!

hare in the meadow

Meadow Pipit a dull bird





not the most exciting of species 

Friday, May 29, 2009

Common Blue



Painted Ladies still pouring in






for the last week Painted Lady butterflies have been everywhere locally with last weekend seeing a strong northerly movement through the area; with light SE winds today another arrival / movement seems to be underway; most of the ones I saw in the week were simply flying by but this morning some were stopping to feed on clover flowers along the Humber bank; most are old and faded / bleached individuals like the lower two but I did come across this brighter / fresher individual early this morning before the sun got too high

wandering Marsh Harrier and chick



a non-breeding female harrier already in extensive wing moult; the adult female has prey brought by the male -- it appears to be a Skylark or Meadow Pipit chick --- to us it almost seems pointless bringing back such small food items

Goldfinch



when I have time maybe swapping the wire for a nice branch would be beneficial

Grey Squirrel nipper



at least they eat some natural food!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

new Grasshopper warbler on the patch




this seems to be a new arrival singing well all morning in a tradition spot but not occupied earlier in the spring

Grasshopper Warbler 2






Shelduck aggression






most of the skirmishes are over very quickly and are difficult to follow; the bottom shot is a male in classic threat flight posture

fighting Shelducks






still trying to get some good images of these fights that seem to be a mix of aggression between several males and the small number of females and also battles between pairs over favoured feeding areas

Sedge Warblers