Whimbrel

 my best ever images of a species I have always found difficult to get close to -- the Auto focus on the R6 certainly stuck on this once it found it 

some further R6 images

 getting a better feel for this camera and how it works - the Yellow Wagtail was through a reed fringe needing manual focus initially; the harriers are pretty big crops but all 12 in a sequence were in focus but light and contrast are clearly key factors - nice to get rid of the glaring overhead sun and heat haze! 

The Northern Wheatear looks like a Greenland

experimenting with new camera

 convinced myself not to get one but bought a Canon R6 to see if the much hypoed AF abilities worked in challenging situations - the jury is still out after a few days of bright overhead sun and less than co-operative subjects - it seems to work well on Ashy Mining Bees! BUT harriers against a cluttered backdrop - camera says no - its a steep learning curve but these are a few early results 

Marsh Harriers with a difference

 always looking for a different angle on the standard portraits 

Orange-tailed Mining Bees

 a new one on me but I'm not a bee expert to say the least

Swallows just hanging on

 only found two pairs back on local territories so far; in 1982 I estimated an autumn roost in the local pits at 250,000 birds - in recent years we do not even get 500 in the roost in autumn - we know the roost causes but every day I see huge sprayers out killing off the remnant insect populations - we know the causes of wildlife declines but continue to blindly follow the profit is king rule -- how long before we no longer see a Swallow in spring like the Turtle Doves we have already lost in our lifetime?

first Grasshopper Warbler hiding

 staying well hidden in the middle of a small hawthorn hiding from the hordes of walkers on the adjacent footpath

Red-throated Diver locally

 the first diver on the pits for a while - a nice first-summer, 2cy, Red-throated Diver on sailing pit for the last few days -- one of the few spots where you can get down low to get a good perspective on waterfowl

glorious sunrise and some harrier action