Odds & Sods 2021

Wonderful, Hazel, Great that you are able to get out a bit and take such lovely photos and share them with the rest of us--thanks. (And I hope your troublesome neighbours give up and agree to the requirements of the set-up there!)

Kittiwake (1st Summer)(2cy)

Germain said:

Bob S said:

amazes me no one notices them up there.

I think so many people walk without listening - I see lots of people out walking and they are either stomping along not noticing their surroundings or are wired for sound or, if in company, gassing 19 to the dozen . I always try to have my 'listening ears'  on as my late husband used to say to the girls.  It's hard to miss food begging calls 

Generally folk do walk around totally oblivious to what nature is up to.

Our local Nat Trust has swallows that nest right above their heads, in a narrow gatehouse passageway, swooping right over their heads (I mean centimetres, not metres above) bringing insects in and flying out again to get more insects, and keep the brood safe and fed!

I often feel nature to many folk is something on the planet Zog, not earth!

4.30 AM This morning

Its still the middle of the damn night Jenny!

Linda257 said:

4.30 AM This morning

Well AM wouldn't be this afternoon, would it?? 

I was just heading out the door to work then... ours are blackbirds having a daily sing off 

A robin singing its head off in the early morning sun.

House sparrow, most likely a juvenile

Cuckoo spit, or more correctly, the home of the froghopper nymph....

Finally, a buzzard, that had been mobbed by swifts and came back again later to be mobbed by crows....

The last day of seeing the nesting kestrels in the local valley this morning. Left the nest and although they can't fly yet are hopping and flapping around their nesting tree, busy exploring. Three again like the last two years.

Lovely Bob, the young Kestrels are cute, not long before they will be away on their own.

No photos yet, but just to say that we have had by far and away the largest first brood of Starlings locally that I can remember for a very long time. We’re seeing a flock of around 150 - 200 birds around the gardens at the moment. Keeping my fingers crossed for a successful second brood as well. It would be nice to hope that this may be the case in other areas.