More doorstep.

Another day of mixed weather, a commitment with my son and a desire to watch Starlings roosting meant a day of grabbed opportunities.

Cannop ponds gave me some opportunities.


The Coots and the Little Grebes were very active.

They were catching little fish for fun.

A female Mallard was lovely.

A drive on the outskirts of Ross found two Herons together on a field. Here is one of them.

More stuff on the doorstep, isn't life brilliant.

On your doorstep.

You don't have to go far if you live in the forest to find a plethera of wildlife.

During the spell of good weather on Sunday I decided to check out one or two locations all within a five mile radius of my house.

Cannop Ponds provided me with these Mute swan shots.

and this shot of a Little Grebe.

The stoneworks end of the larger pool had this Blue tit feeding with others.

New Fancy had a number of Bramblings present.

A drive through Eastbach gave me the chance for this Red legged Partridge.

Of course there were plenty of other birds that I saw such as, Chaffinch, Great Tit, Blackbird, Great spotted woodpecker, Coal tit, Nuthatch, Coot, Moorhen, Mallard duck, Mandarin duck, Robin, Crow, Rook, Collared dove, Pheasant, House Sparrow and Greenfinch.

We are so lucky living in such a beautiful area.

One of those days

Every now and then I have a day where I really enjoy myself. I had one such day yesterday at Slimbridge WWT.

Chris G and I went there intent on getting flight shots. On our arrival it didn't look like we were going to do anything as it was raining and grey. The weather men had got it right though and the sun soon began to shine.

There was a good breeze blowing, not as strong as we'd hoped but ok.

Soon the flight shots were coming.

This small flock of Pintail Duck for starters.

Buzzards were flying over steadily, putting the birds up.

The Bewicks were very obliging.

But the star of the day was this Peregrine falcon who was continually buzzing across the open ground. The lapwing and curlews were continually being put up.

There were a large number of Curlew present.

All in all a great day. Lots of pics to sort through.

Long tailed tit

I love Long tails, they are by far my favourite bird. Not neccesarily to photograph but they are so cute.

These are all the same bird taken over a period of 45 mins in the forest the other day.

Tell me that it isn't cute and I'll help you find your heart.


Don't forget to check out my new website. www.bjd-wildlifeimages.co.uk

Sun, fog, frost, rain, is it winter?

We've had it all this last week or so haven't we?

A trip to Hawling yesterday(weds) with Andy Carey gave us three out of the four in one day. On our arrival it was bright sunshine and frost. But by the time we left it was fog, fog, fog.

A few opportunities to photograph the owls presented themselves, I think that because Andy and I were the only ones there certainly up to late afternoon the owls were a little more obliging. We didn't see an owl until the fog was well and truly in situ, it was rolling in and out for most of the afternoon.

What we did have the pleasure of in the morning were Skylarks, lots of them, flittering around and singing their glorious songs. None came really close but heres a cropped pic of one that came nearest.

There were two Short eared owls that came out to play, here are a few shots.

In addition to the SEO's there was a Barn Owl flying around, he didn't come anywhere near us though so these are quite heavy crops.

By the time Andy and I were ready to go the temperature was back into the minus's and we were chilled to the bone. A good day though and at last a few shots I'm pleased with enough to show you.