Red Kite over garden

Garden birds

Most mornings our garden is visited by the local Corvids, it is now included in their early morning rounds. This juvenile Rook came back for afters some time later and proceeded to fill its crop up with the suet mixture on the table. We were cleaned out in about 5 mins!

Starlings are unbelievably argumentative, even if they each have a feeder to themselves they will still have a go at each other.

Bald Tit

Devon

Widecombe-in-the-Moor gift shop

Boots, Dartmouth

This Fox family were in the escape lane along side the road into Dartmouth so decided to turn round and park up to take a few shots. It wasnt long before the local plod arrived to enquire as to my activities. I apologised for parking in the escape lane but he wasnt bothered about that. What he was bothered about was my proximity to a barbed wire fence. "Is there a problem officer?" "You are damn right there is, this is the boundary fence to the Royal Naval College can I see some ID" Then there followed some intensive questioning with a lot of to-ing and fro-ing on his radio. It turns out this is the place where all the top knobs train including Prince William. Anyway it all got sorted out in the end. What are the chances of that. I always seem to be in the wrong place. It wasnt that long ago that I was almost arrested in Spain after spotting a Booted Eagle which just happened to be soaring over some runway in the middle of nowhere. Never did find out what the importance of it was.

Studland Heath

Out Nightjaring again this evening. This is a view towards Goathorn

Spot the Nightjar

Weds

Back to Morden this morning with Mark and Killian, this time looking for Woodlarks.

Managed to stalk this juvenile to within about 15 feet.

Back of the head much scruffier than the neat pale V of the adults

There were 3 juvs in this family party and could be readily located by their very Meadow Pipit like call.

Adult

Hartland Moor

Imm Spoonbills in Wareham Channel

Morden

At least 5 Hobbies flying around the area, rather oddly all were 2nd calendar year birds.

This one looks like it could still pass as a juvenile from underneath, although looking very closely at the body feathers there does seem to be a small splash of colour around the vent area

Very brown upper parts on this bird which might have been the same bird as above, it certainly hasnt done much in the way of moult with just a few scattered adult scapulars and rump feathers. The white blobs on the primaries show up well

The juvenile tail feathers can be seen well on this bird

This one is much more advanced having moulted all of its body feathers and its tail also by the looks of things. The wings are still its originals but it should be replacing them very soon.

Juv Great Spot with its red crown

Roe Deer

Dorset

Young Egret clambering about

Slightly younger one

This adults arm bones can be seen here through the right wing in particular

Garden juvs

Ad and juv Rook hijacking the bird table. If this juv was on its own it could easily pass for a Crow. Had to take the shot through a warped window!

Juv Goldfinch sat on here munching for a good 10 minutes. Largely due to the lack of competition for the niger seeds

Young Great Tit not quite old enough to feed itself yet

Juv Starling with its neatly edged flight feathers

Hinkley again

Back to Hinkley again for the week where its always best to take some shelter

This was some downpour. (click on image). Is that Chown in the distance? Not much cover out there Dave!

Local Skylarks nest

Swineham

Breeding plumage Spoonbill off Giggers Island, is there a mate somewhere near?

Reed Warbler in what looks like a rather more exotic location than Swineham gravel pits!

Had to stop the car for this bird which was just sat motionless in the road. Thought it must be a youngster but it turned out to be a rather stunned adult female that had presumably just had an encounter with a car. After a few minutes it came round and flew off