So following a late reprieve at Ferrybridge, I headed round to Lodmore. First up, my first Comma of the year
And I wish I'd spotted the shadow whilst I was looking through the viewfinder, so I hadn't cut it off
It was still blowing a hooley, and suddenly blown into view, a Marsh Harrier
After being blown sideways a short distance, it gave up!
What I think is a young Heron was loitering amongst the reeds
Making haste towards the Tern islands due to the forecast of soon to be gloom and damp, I spotted a distant small charm of Goldfinches
As I walked along this path there is a stretch of 20 or 30 metres or so of Buddleia, and there was not a bee, fly or butterfly on them. Despite the wind, I would have expected bee's and flies at a minimum. Moving away and into a slightly sheltered scrubby/woody but, a Gatekeeper alighted. From the odd angle I thought at first it was some exotic looking moth!
There were a few Lapwing about, none being particularly irridescent
And a lovely breeding plumaged Godwit
Juvenile Common Terns (based mainly on the fact I didn't see any adult Arctic Terns!)
There were several Canada Geese about
Feeding time
You'll have someones eye out with that!
A bit of a tug of war
Get off my land!! (not sure who he was shouting at, but there were black headed gulls nests to the right!)
We ALLLllllll need feeding
I thought this might be a Mediterranean Gull.... but no real reason why, other than bill colour and black and white at the back
Some airborne shenanigans caught my eye
Sandwich Tern?
There were several Common Terns learning the ropes, skimming the water, and plucking stuff from it, or diving in to it... I don't think any caught food, but the practised on, nontheless
Try again
And again
Something upset this adult, bristling for a scrap, by the looks of it
There was a Little Egret further afield
Not just the Terns were successfully gathering things
GULP.... what food?
One one of the islands, Carrotbill family... b rave with the proximity of the gulls, I would have thought!
Atop a bush as I moved round to see if there was a better view
And overhead... note: depending on which way I faced, the sky was either glorious blue, or perilous grey!
Another scrubby/woody bit leant itself nicely to the lollipops
Probably the other Sandwich Tern!
A very purposeful looking Crowven
My 2nd Comma of the year, accompanied probably by some Flea Beetles (thanks Cin)
Heading back to the car another not very iridescing Lapwing
Another Goldfinch, with slightly better settings!
A Dunnock singing beautifully
A Heron took off, and gracefully battled the wind
And it was followed by a 2nd, that decided a circuit was the best course to take
And with that, I'd had enough of being buffetted, and squinting because the wind would have blown my cap off, and tootled off home, just in time for lunch
Hope you enjoyed
Stay Safe All
Looks a good selection PB, it's good to see quite a few juveniles. I like your terns
Another great set of photos and species, great aerial shots PB, the Terns are spectacular and good to see the butterflies as it's been such a poor year for them methinks.
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Regards, Hazel
Thanks both. I agree Hazel, very poor so far this year
Lovely selection PB, a nice mix of different species.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.