Spoonbill

my first of the spring this morning at Alkborough -- immature but can you age them?

March 29th 2019 on the patch

my first Speckled Wood of the year in 6 species of butterfly, Small White, Small Tort, Peacock, Brimstone, Comma -- a Great White Egret came in off the Humber fed in the Blow Wells ponds then headed west while the Peregrines were having a bit of a disagreement over the rights to a pigeon

Pygmy Owl old times

Taken in Sweden in February 2006 with the original Canon 20D and a 300f4 lens and 1.4x converter -- times and prices have moved on but there is still nothing to beat a co-operative bird in a nice landscape

the ongoing Red-necked Grebe

if it stays another couple of weeks it will look pretty smart

March arrivals LRP and Garganey

Oystercatchers mating

Wondered why one had a muddy mantle - seldom use my 2x converter but dragged it out for a trial in some pretty dull light -- surprised by the results as shutter speeds weer very low 

drake (green-winged) Teal

they are all green-winged

Little Grebe

you either like this sort of pic or you don't -- personally bill tip to tail tip images do nothing for me at all but its all personal taste -- to me this is all about the water

a little redder Red-necked Grebe

getting a bit brighter but not any tamer

its a Blackbird

a flash of a big white rump diving under a patch of brambles had me baffled this morning until it appeared with a loose flock of pre-migratory male Blackbirds in a wet grass field -- appears to be a female but the tail is very black? striking bird particularly in flight

drake Goldeneye

sometimes the head sheen is certainly purple but then suddenly morphs into bottle green

a cracking Siskin

a lone male on Waters' Edge at the weekend with loads of people walking past within a few feet of it

Bittern hunting amphibians

Black-tailed Godwits