Dragonflies and beautiful flying beasties

Hello Eilid

Are you sure you're not an elf?

Your beautiful, lyrical descriptions of nature would not be out of place in Rivendell.

Anyway, back here in Lancashire, my best beautiful moment today was seeing one of my baby Blackbirds peeping out of the thicket hedge where mum and dad Blackbird have hidden them since they fledged.

Pipit x

Hi Eilid

What a co-incidence! I've just returned home from a trip to Otmoor nature reserve which is near the A34. In fact the A34 at Newbury is quite close to where I live.

At Otmoor today I saw lots of lapwings, 2 hobbies, 3 red kites, 2 herons, 2 great crested grebes, a whitethroat, several reed buntings, and several blue and great tit fledglings. Here are a few that I photographed:

Best wishes Chris

Lovely photos Chris

I adore Blue Tits but don't they often look so cross!

Pipit x

Great set of pictures Chris, now you just have to learn to write with the eloquence of eilib

Lovely post Eilid, it sounds like a beautiful place. Dragonflies and damselflies are so fascinating to watch and ponds are such soothing places I find.. 

So pleased you saw your blackbird chick Pipit, he/she is certainly well protected in there.

Woodpecker ...such amazing photos, you could win prizes with those, beautiful.

Today, I had a glimpse of three of the bluetits recently fledged from my nestbox. Mum or Dad is the blur in the background collecting pieces of fatball.

Hi Pipit,

Gorgeous little thing. I love blackbirds. Your little one looks very strong and ready to fly away. The parents work so hard.

Oh to be an elf now the World Cup is here!!!!!!

The only problem to being an elf that I can see, is that my dog would possibly be bigger than me. With her love for chasing about around tree trunks and other elfin places, this may not be wise :-D.

Speak soon

Eilid x

Hi there

What a lovely thread to read, and see how all the wildlife is coping with their hectic lives bringing up their families.

Super pictures everyone - really enjoyed sharing the experiences a lot.

Jef: Your Blue Tit family is beautiful.

Regards

Kathy and Dave

Hi,

I couldn't agree more with Kathy's post. It is a lovely thread to read, and wonderful pictures to go with it.

I also couldn't agree more with Pipit. Blue Tits always look cross to me, as do male sparrows.

I'm having a magical weekend due to the arrival of at least 2, possibly 3,  goldfinch families with hungry babies. They are on a grand tour of all the various food sources, showiing their young where food is safe and plentiful, and I feel very priviledged they have included my garden on this tour. It was also a relief yesterday to see Mrs. Mallard and her brood on our stretch of the river where we walk the dogs each day. Her family of 7 is still intact, unlike another Mrs. Mallard who started out with 10 ducklings, gradually reduced to a single one. That singleton is now almost as big as she is, but it is rarely seen away from her side. The heron was fishing close by, thankfully ignoring the ducklings, and the trees were full of singing birds. We are about to set off on today's walk, so we shall see if things have changed.

I decided to walk Millie quite close to home today, following a familiar path we have often taken, up into the heath behind the church where Winston Churchill is buried, towards woodland and the site of an ancient hill fort where people used to meet along a salt route. 

Leaving the houses behind as we walked between fields of yellowing wheat and just cut hay, I spotted what I thought was a kestrel high in a tree and as I did I heard a call. Looking up I saw four red kites circling just above us, gliding effortlessly across the hay field, methodically scanning for prey and carrion, as a fifth called from somewhere in or beyond the wood. 

I stood and watched from the shadow of some trees as they worked across the field, willing them to come back towards me. After a few minutes they did, one flying so low over us I could see the breeze rippling through his wing feathers as his body moved around his totally still  head. Briefly he cocked his head round and looked, I think at Millie, before leisurely drifting away. I was so excited I forgot until it was too late, to try to get a photo! Curses!!!!

The photo I did finally get, shows a tiny dot against a beautiful sky. Oh well ................

On the return stretch of our route, in a sunny sheltered spot at the end of the wood, we came upon a swarm of bees. The noise was extraordinary as they  whirled around and around, but in the few seconds it took for me to move to get a better view, they had gone leaving  an intense silence.  I wonder if they have swarmed from a local hive. 

Almost back at the hay field, suddenly a cloud of rooks, disturbed by us, rose up out of a dead tree. It was as if the tree had been hit by a gust of wind, showering black leaves all around. I tried to count them but they wove around each other so quickly I could only get an impression, but as they settled again as I watched from a distance, I could see that they filled the tree. 

They reminded me of how in the spring, I had watched a rook as he tugged at twigs in the still bare trees on a busy roundabout. I'd never seen this before and was fascinated. After a lot of work, a newly broken twig  was presented  with what looked like great ceremony by the rook to his mate, who tucked it on the pile of twigs she sat upon as she built a nest. What  I found even more touching was that talked to each other with gentle cooing sounds. So different to my leaf shower of rooks today. 

Back home, thinking of it all and your beautiful photographs, I feel it's been a day of abundance but have made a note to  self - Get a camera!!!!!!  The following shows just how much I've got to learn. I offer it  in embarrassment  :-D

Eilid x