Before heading out for a short walk today I enjoyed watching the antics of a pair of Goldfinch visiting the garden. Both were removing stems from the Forget-me-nots and then eating the forming seeds. They managed to decimate some of the smaller plants as they returned multiple times and tackled a few stems each time. They are beautiful birds and I have always had a soft spot for them as it was seeing a Goldfinch for the first time many years ago that led me to start bird watching in the first place. It was great to be able to spend some time admiring them and they gave some very nice close views, even if they did display some distinctly vandal tendencies! In the first photograph the Forget-me-knot still has some flower stems. After several return visits from the Goldfinches it has lost the lot by the second photograph. Luckily there are quite a lot of the plants in the garden for the Goldfinches to be able to work their way through and they should provide a good supply of seeds for the birds for a while.
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| Goldfinch |
A Blackbird dropped into the bird bath while I was admiring the Goldfinches but before it had a chance to use the facilities it disappeared with a flurry of alarm calls as a cat suddenly appeared atop the fence.
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| Blackbird |
I had a short wander down the track in the afternoon and though for much of the way it was pretty quiet I enjoyed watching a Dunnock working its way along one of the trees branches.
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| Dunnock |
A small micro moth caught my eye but I do not know which it is at present. But hopefully I will be able to work it out at some point. I find many of the micro moths difficult to identify but I always enjoy seeing them.
A Dance Fly
Empis tessellata was resting up. They are striking insects.
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| Empis tessellata |
As I made my way along a pair of Red Kite came over and giving some good views as they did so. By the time I had managed to get the camera on to one it was flying into the light but lovely to see. They started to spiral upwards and round each other and I enjoyed watching their sheer mastery in the air as they continued to gain height.
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| Red Kite |
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| pair Red Kite |
On the way back I came across my first Small Heath Butterfly of the year and a Red-and-black Froghopper glowed amongst the green umbellifer stems.
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| Small Heath Butterfly |
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| Red-and-black Froghopper |
I finished my walk with a back lit Red Admiral Butterfly dancing in a pocket of sunshine as it fluttered upwards, the light shining though its wings and making all the colours appear jewel like. Though it was a fair way away when it settled the light shining through its opened wings was still striking and made a nice end to my walk.
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| Red Admiral butterfly |
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