Of Woozels and hephalumps

Well no snow, no bush to follow them around either, but Rouzels " unless your Johnathon Ross then it really is woozles!" there was and in good numbers.The first one was sunning it's self on the slope as you dive up to the car park but promptly did a runner over the top, so I parks at the quarry expecting it to have moved into the area, that is until two dogs appeared unleashed and chased everything that moved , the male genital that had control!! got a mouth full of polite abuse, the dogs were soon leashed, it was he that looked more sheepish now!!!
Not to be outdone I braved the cold of the quarry and before long I could hear them calling on three sides, at first I thought it was an echo! gladly I was proven wrong six! yes six! Rouzels 3 Male and 3 not males were chasing around feeding in the then warming sunshine, "WHOOHOOO!" I thought to myself, and so I proceeded to fill my boots for the next hour.

A very accommodating Male.

Stokesay proved a worthwhile stop on the way back, as I was looking for Grey wagtail or Dipper this nice BOP drifted over a bit high but hey!!

OH! And of course the also ran at the clee, were a lot more Wheatears, trying to find one with no leg adornments, was a real problem, in fact I failed on that one, they was all 'blinged up man'!!

Not to be outdone by the female the male soon turned up, displaying his bling.

It was home for some scran and a well earned snooze in the armchair! with the South having been done for a while it will be the Mosses next weather permitting, and enough browny points earned!!

Cheers Paul

No Rouzels! But check out the Bling!!

Up and out real early this morning on a Rouzel hunt! on the Titterstone Clee, the wind was stronger than a Saturday morning in the sea watching hide at Dungeness!!but thankfully not as pungent
The quarry was bare not a peep, sqauk or anything else and blooming cold
A walk back to the car park finally produce a few Wheatear all chasing each other around in the strong wind, and certainly staying far away from me. Dropping into the lee of one of the mounds , on the down track, I found this Stunning male Stonechat flashing some serious bling man, surprised he could get of the ground with that lot on.So not having seen a Ring necked Parrakeet for a little while it was of to St Milborough to stand around for an hour or two with a no show, but this little Siskin proved to be really co-operative and added another bit of colour into the day.!

A few things needing doing in town left me with a few hours to spend in my local wood, Apley!

I am Glad I did as I got my first Chiff chaff of the year and a Nuthatch trying to reduce an old Woodpecker hole until suitable for habitation. It was like watching a wasp building its nest as it gathered mud and worked it around the edges.

The other side!

And then finally a couple shots of the Chiff chaff just for the record , nice bird to end the day with

The light was not doing me any favours.

So two days of rain forecast for the weekend might mean a couple of Duvet days and loads of admin !!!

Cheers

Paul

Of Mire and Meres

An arboreal Redshank at the Mere proved an interesting subject, the tide must have been in?
And the Shelduck were going bonkers for a chance of broadening the gene pool??

At the Mire lake the Shelduck were in real frisky mode!! and chased each other round looking for the best spot to bite!!

OOuch!!! now that has got to hurt.

The victor disappears with the spoils.

A slightly closer shot of the Arboreal Redshank.

Just a few from Today and Sunday

Paul

A county run around

The promise of a well foggy and misty start to the day got me out and up the Mynd, The journey there was intriguing with absolutely nothing more than 15 meters visible.
Thankfully as I climbed up the Burway I burst out at the top into bright sunshine and a slight chill in the wind.
Red grouse seemed all over the place sadly non in the range of the lens, no Dotterel, Ring Ouzel or Harriers were visible but a rare glimpse of the floating village of Shropshire was captured.

So a few of the results are as follows.



The Longnor Dipper was presenting really well and one at a time, and all on the wrong !! side of the bridge.

Corn Bunting were displaying very well, the wire is not aesthetically pleasing but hey!!

The bright sunshine on Thursday that eventually came through gave the Common Frogs at VP the opportunity to practice their calls and get some more spawn into the water.

more tomorrow and maybe a Crane or Two!!!

Cheers

Paul

Esturine goodies again.

With the food supply of estuaries being renewed and rejuvenated each tide, the diversity of the supported wildlife is staggering, Invertebrates, Birds, Fish & Mammals, which includes the greatest infestations on the planet, Mankind.
And we continue to wreak devastation everywhere we go.
Wigeon on the move.

This was the first time that I had seen the Whitefronted geese on the estuary,

I must admit I was well chuffed that they had got this far south, or had I just nissed them over my absence from watching the area.

This particular day the Shoveller were very active chasing eachother around

With the inrushing tide the Waders started their ablutions prior to the tidal roost.

Another of the geese.

At last a close fly by.

Not to be outdone these Bewicks appeared as if out of nowhere.

So there you go a bit from the South west, now back in the county I have been out today and there are a few more to come.

Paul

Where did February go??

I assume that as it is now March, that February must have been and gone at sometime or other. And as such I missed it, with so much happening recently it was all I could do to get to Priorslee at times.

But a few trips to the Old Ancestral's, gave me opportunity to explore my old haunts around Exmoor and the Taw and Torridge estuaries, places that never cease to amaze, with the bio-diversity that exists in the ever, twice daily, changing environment.

So after a couple of weeks , where the whole setup was re-located and revamped, including a visit from an engineer to get things really rocking, I get back on line, at last!

The Stonechat was a right poser with a return to the same perch time after time. Whilst there were four Spoonbills on the salt marsh they stayed a good distance away, good scoping but a little to distant for anything other than a record shot or two.

Well with March already almost half way through and a day of not a great deal going on for a change, I decided to check out the local arables for the Hares, as luck would have it there they were after what seemed an age of absence.

A quick slap on the chops for even thinking about it!!

OK I;m ready, but be quick!!

Celebrating after a successful union!

I think a look at the moss might be in order, after a check on the Lesser spot in Apley wood, if it still around?

Paul