It seems a little odd to me, this year. The first warblers got established and then the rest haven't appeared. I saw 2 willow warblers two weeks ago and haven't seen another since. The butterflies came out in February and now I'm lucky if I see one all day long, despite the sun. The good old British weather, eh? Anyway, a few photos from the past week or so ...
… definitely Spring-y, a lovely little wren blasting out some tunes against a backdrop of blossom and fresh foliage
Amazing how it's always the little ones that make so much noise, with Cetti's and Great Tits giving wrens a run for their money
I often like getting 'behind' butterflies for the different aspect, like this Peacock on … willow … possibly
I think this is Maple blossom
I took a few photos of this Chiffchaff ...
… thinking "well, it's moving through the trees, so I can get ahead of it and get it when it emerges in better light." While I was waiting I had a bit of a shock … but not as much as the Chiffchaff, because this flew in from right behind me and landed just in front.
It let me move until I could get the shot above, without a single twig in the way, and then, it looked at me and flew off. How cool is that … a Sparrowhawk photographed not in a garden but while out walking in the woods and I only had to crop it for width. Needless to say, the Chiffchaff shut up and never showed its face again after that!!
I also ended up a little too close to this Song Thrush foraging in the undergrowth.
On the West Pennine Moors, I encountered 3 Roe Deer in a pine forest. They were very close and surprisingly, not really concerned by my presence, although they did keep an eye on me ...
I thought they'd run when a barking dog came along with its owner, but no, they just kept a wary eye out and I think I spent about 20 minutes watching them. Sadly, the buck was lame. You can see a black mark on its hind leg which is a significant lump and was obviously causing it pain. A shame to see it like that and I hope it clears up because otherwise it looks healthy enough to my inexperienced eye
I didn't think deer went around in family groups, but this was 1 buck, 1 doe and 1 that was either a second smaller doe or a fawn. However, this is the bigger doe again.
I'm not sure if there is a really good Bluebell wood near me, but it's obviously that time of year
Still looking for my first Swallow (although there are loads of Sand Martins around) and still waiting for the Whitethroats and other later warblers... come on you lazy lot!