Roe deer at Fowlmere

Taken on a pre Christmas to RSPB Fowlmere. This small group emerged from the reeds and stopped for a drink but soon disappeared when they heard human voices approaching the hide.
May I take this opportunity to send everyone
                                                                          

                                                          Happy new year

A visit to the Raptor foundation, Woodhurst

                                                                    Bald eagle

                                                                       Kestrel

                                                                Long eared owl
We spent an enjoyable five hours here in Huntingdonshire, besides the birds of prey there is also a small reptile and insect house manned by a very keen and informative member of staff, and i must add that the guys looking after the birds were also very helpful and knowledgable.
Above are a few images I took for screen savers, I love the top one!

Cley, Red breasted flycatcher

Just a couple of pictures of this cracking little juvenile flycatcherIt was flushed from it's resting place by the Pill box at Cley beach by a couple walking in the opposite direction to us and together we enjoyed a couple of minutes of it's company before it flew and disappeared. Another chap who had viewed it from a distance through his scope put the news out but when we retured that was twenty minutes later it had not been refound unfortunately for those that quickly appeared to try to get a view of it

Kingfisher

Posing beautifully on thie reed mace in the early morning sun at Holme, it sat here for half an hour before dropping into the water and then disappeared so I don't know if it caught anything

A day at Titchwell

 The herring gull was very successful in his crab catching whilst w e watched, it seemed to catch them at will and they must have made very prickly snacks

 The Black tailed godwit seemed to be half asleep and unconcerned by our passing close by

 The Turnstones on the beach were happy to walk around the birders getting as close as fifteen feet or less if you layed down.

 Sanderling, which I find very endearing were zooming around in the surf which was being whipped up by a strong wind resulting in the foam that this bird was hunting in.

The male Shoveller in his brand new plumage looked very smart in the late afternoon sun

A good day at Grafham water

Les and I went to Grafham with friends Ken and Tim and were rewarded with some good birds for the time of year, picture one is a long tailed duck or Oldsquaw as it is known in the USA.
Picture two is a pair of distant black-necked grebes. Picture three is an arctic tern and finally a Northern wheatear.

Little egret studies

These were taken on different days at three locations and I just picked out the most eyecatching or unusual pictures for the blog, some were taken in quite low light.

La Roque, Dordogne, France

This is a spectacular place, inhabited for the last 55,000 years, the buildings are built under the overhangs of the sheer cliffs or in caves that are high up on the rock face.
It is worthwhile googling this place foe some superb images, there are lots of chateaus, some atop cliffs with spectacular views.

Dordogne wildlife

A small selection of some of the wildlife we found in the Thiviers region of the Dordogne

Orange slug

We found this beauty on the road at Nantheuil, I have also seen them in the UK, I have been unable to discover its species.

Firecrest

We saw this firecrest at the resevoir at Mialet, a pleasant area with a footpath that went around the perimeter, it was a designated nature reserve.

Green and common Wall lizards

The green lizard we found out in the countryside of the Dordogne, the wall lizards were photographed in my cousins garden, they were an endless fascination to one of his dogs who spent hours each day trying to catch them with very little success, when he got bored with the lizards the shadows of butterflies had him tearing around trying to catch them, at the end of each day he was just about exhausted.

Coypu

These were in the Valley where my cousin lives in the Dordogne, they appeared to have poor eyesight as I was able to approach them quite close before they got our scent and scuttled off into the safety of the water (pic 2)

Wild boar

We saw these in the Dordogne region of France, sadly a hunting mad area, we were advised not to go into the woods on Sundays as there was a good chance of getting shot, we thought the wild boar were wonderful, and cannot understand why anyone should want to kill them,

Frampton marsh highlights

Les and I had a long week end in Lincolnshire, with all the best pictures being obtained at Frampton.
One morning I arrived early to find it shrouded in mist but I could hear the huge flock of up to 5,000 black tailed godwits calling, (see picture above of part of the flock in flight when the fog cleared).
While I waited for the sun to break through I watched a group of mallards walking across the grass eating the spiders from the centres of the dew laden webs, also two pairs of mute swans were in a loose group and both cobs decided to make show of who was boss, they slowly approached each other in typical agression pose, they stood really close to each other and bent their necks down so that their heads were facing downwards, they both stood their ground and then seemingly with their honour intact quietly ambled back to their pens.
the top picture is of a little stint, two is a black tailed godwit, four is a very obliging goldfinch and five is a distant pectoral sandpiper, a visitor from America.

House martins

Some more images from Welney, the pictures are interesting in that the different light on the plumages look like different hues of black.

Barn swallow juvenile

Les and I spent a very pleasant day at Welney including a trip out with the livestock ranger to the parts of the reserve that are normally off limits to the public. There were large numbers of hirundines around the centre and this was one that allowed us to get quite close without disturbing it.

Puffins on Skomer island

Just a small selection of the pictures obtained on a recent trip to Powys, we had never ventured here in the past but intend to return and check out some more of the local sites in the future