Some previously unpublished photos from local parks over the last, oh I don't know, 2 ... 3 weeks or maybe longer ... I forget!
"You shall not pass!" This little guy was determinedly blocking the footpath.
The only time I've managed to get a Willow Tit on camera in the past 12 months. They hadn't been showing at all in this particular spot, then someone hung a feeder from a hawthorn bush and hey presto, there they were. They can obviously sniff out a sunflower seed from a mile away!
A Meadow Pipit
Goldcrests seem to be in vogue, this year. I've even managed one myself, which is a rarity.
Well, most of one anyway. A bramble growing through a hawthorn bush ... could you get a more tangled spot to lurk in?
Meanwhile, higher up in the bush as an added distraction
Ah, look at that little face!
A happy poser
Suddenly shows his angry side
There is a small brook fairly close to my house and it must have one of the tamest Grey Herons I know. If you're careful and there aren't any dog walkers letting their animals off the leash, you can get within a few yards of him
He's standing on an almost vertical bank there and was leaning over fishing a foot below his feet. How he didn't fall in head first was beyond me! Once you've close and he's got used to you, he'll walk past even closer. I've had him walk past me just 5 or 6 feet away.
Having a bird that big that close during a fly-by is quite special. I wouldn't have been far away from being able to reach out and touch the tip of his wing as he went past
And I can't leave without a couple of Madam - my favourite bird at the moment. She keeps delivering in offering photo opportunities. I guess she'll disappear shortly though. Hopefully, that'll make her mate more visible. He's a little too shy at the moment, compared to her anyway.
This is either prep for take off or her favourite Dr Who villains are the Angels
That wraps it up for now.
I'm very disappointed you didn't get the Goldcrest's left foot in Nige...are you sure it shouldn't be in the bad pics thread?? Another fabulous set, thanks
Brilliant photos Nige, and I think you might need to have words with the goldcrest for not being in the full picture! LOL
A cracking set of photos, given some of the close ups you must be in possession of an invisibility cloak. Most of the time I struggle to get whole body shots of the elusive Goldcrest with it's crest showing, until quite recently this was my best shot with a crest. Any in focus shot of a Goldcrest is a good one, well done.
Trevor