[SamT]

Redpoll's a nice tick.  Wish I'd spent a little longer at Bowlees.

Agree about the Lapwings.  Good to see a lot of them up there, such an interesting bird.   I remember lots from youth, then they seemed to all but disappear.  Are they making a comeback, or is it just that my eyes are open to them again.

[Dolly]

Saw Lapwings today on Strines Moor, last week on the way to Wimberry. Lovely birds. I didn't know what they were so had to look them up. I probably saw 10 birds in total

[SA Chris]

Such erratic looking flight. We spotted a few at the bottom of Morven recently, kids were convinced they were going to crash into the ground.

Also found a pile of bloody feathers on the lawn. looks like the local sparrowhawk is back. gutted I missed him, managed to grab a photo last time he stopped by for a meal.

[SamT]

Such erratic looking flight.

They've always reminded me of the american A-10 Warthog plane that used to occasionally dog fight over the Hope Valley when I was a youth (just pre Gulf War 1, so late 80's)

[tlr]

A few pictures from the last few weeks - seems to have been a glut of activity recently in wildlife terms.

I've also just had a great week on Mull, but not finished wading through all the pictures yet, so they will have to wait. Bit gutted that I missed one of our blue tit nests fledging whilst away though.

Treecreeper

IMGL0282 by Tim Russon, on Flickr

IMGL0356-2 by Tim Russon, on Flickr

Little Owl

IMGL0762 by Tim Russon, on Flickr

IMGL0705 by Tim Russon, on Flickr

IMGL0958 by Tim Russon, on Flickr

Kingfisher

IMGL1092 by Tim Russon, on Flickr

IMGL1085 by Tim Russon, on Flickr

Pied Flycatcher

IMGL9890 by Tim Russon, on Flickr

IMGL9929 by Tim Russon, on Flickr

[Wood FT]

Beautiful

[tlr]

As mentioned previously, I've just had a week on Mull, primarily to see and photograph the wildlife. We had a couple of days of bad weather, couple of mixed days and two glorious days of sunshine. Luckily the sunshine coincided with the boat trip to see the White Tailed Sea Eagles.

We saw about 50 species of birds without really trying, and got decent photos of the WT eagles and good views of Golden Eagle. Only had about 3 minutes with an otter, despite everyone else seeming to be seeing them everywhere, but to make up for that we made a longshot trip to Iona to try and hear and maybe catch a glimpse of a Corncrake - and were rewarded with a fantastic view of one.

Grey heron fishing at sunset

IMGL1458 by Tim Russon, on Flickr

Very distant and heavily cropped picture, but it does show the immense size of the sea eagle - that is a buzzard attacking it!

IMGL1691 by Tim Russon, on Flickr

The only otter

IMGL2005 by Tim Russon, on Flickr

IMGL2018 by Tim Russon, on Flickr

White tailed sea eagle

IMGL3033 by Tim Russon, on Flickr

IMGL3271 by Tim Russon, on Flickr

IMGL3373 by Tim Russon, on Flickr

IMGL3530 by Tim Russon, on Flickr

The obliging corncrake

IMGL3948 by Tim Russon, on Flickr

And black guillemots on the job

IMGL4158 by Tim Russon, on Flickr

[SA Chris]

Crake shot is fantastic. We heard them in the reedbeds on North Uist every morning, but never saw them.

[tlr]

Yeah, we were very lucky - reckon I could have another 10 trips there and not get a better view.

[SamT]

You don't actually take these shots do you Tim,, tell me you just go on google images and pull some shit off the blue planet website right??

[only joking, they're flippin' amazing]

[jwi]

Very distant and heavily cropped picture, but it does show the immense size of the sea eagle - that is a buzzard attacking it!

IMGL1691 by Tim Russon, on Flickr

Buzzards are aggressive bastards. I have never been bothered by neither the white tailed nor the golden eagle when climbing in Scandinavia, but I have had a rough-legged buzzard closer do to me what it did to the eagle above. Turned around a few cm from my face when I was on a route.

[tlr]

You don't actually take these shots do you Tim,, tell me you just go on google images and pull some shit off the blue planet website right??

[only joking, they're flippin' amazing]

Thanks - I do take them all, plus the other 10,000s that get deleted for being crap....

[tlr]

Very distant and heavily cropped picture, but it does show the immense size of the sea eagle - that is a buzzard attacking it!

IMGL1691 by Tim Russon, on Flickr

Buzzards are aggressive bastards. I have never been bothered by neither the white tailed nor the golden eagle when climbing in Scandinavia, but I have had a rough-legged buzzard closer do to me what it did to the eagle above. Turned around a few cm from my face when I was on a route.

The poor sea eagles were getting mobbed constantly by buzzards, crows or gulls wherever they went.

My wife was road cycling near Hartington last year when a buzzard attacked her a couple of times. I went down there and saw it attack another cyclist on the same road, but strangely it wasn't bothered about me walking down there. They had a nest nearby.

[AMorris]

Absolutely stunning shots Tim, thank you for sharing!

[tlr]

Thanks, and you’re welcome. I don’t do a vast amount with the photos I take other than Instagram and sell the occasional picture, so it’s good to share them.

[tlr]

For once no pictures to speak of, but a great trip to the east coast on Friday.

The black-browed albatross returned to Bempton after a few days absence just in time for our arrival, albeit just sitting way out to sea.

Then we had south to Spurn for a couple of long shots, both of which paid off, so ticked rosy starling and red-backed shrike.

3 new birds for the UK for me in one trip. I did get pictures of all 3, but either distant or not very special. Some nice gannet flight shots though.

[JamieG]

Walking into pots and pans and just saw about 20 ring ouzels in a little flock. Fantastic. Then a hare ran off. Can hear a skylark calling. Good start to the day. 

[slab_happy]

Several weeks ago I got to see a live barn owl pretty close-up because it fell down my chimney.

No photos, alas, as I was too busy flinging a window open for it then getting out of its way, after having had to dismantle part of the flue so it could get out.

It seemed unharmed, just confused. I have to assume my chimney is now very clean.

[SA Chris]

We had that with a bird in our old house. No idea what if was, but it left sooty wing marks and shit everywhere. Must have been inside all day, escaped as soon as we opened the door, never got a proper look.

[kac]

Been out at lees bottom this morning and there's a little owlet on the ground nestled into one of the trees. There's was some kind of pellet on the ground near it so I assume it's ok! Anyone know if this is usual for owlets? I would post a photo but can't figure out how to!

[SA Chris]

owls and BoPs frequently regurgitate pellets of the undigested bits of their prey (fur, feathers and bones) as they usually swallow them whole.

[fatneck]

Warblers everywhere recently including a local MEGA for me with a Sedgie in the reeds in my local park! According to the local RSPB there are very, very few records for Sedge Warblers in the Liverpool parks so was super delighted!

Also had an unusual but not that rare Teal alight on the park lake for a few hours.

Our Peregrine pair have made all the right noises but not actually nested as far as I can tell.

Managed amazing views with the whole family of a Grasshopper Warbler in full song on the Alt Estuary last week as well as a raft of Whitethroats, Reed and Sedge Warblers.

Martins and Swallows now pretty wide spread but eagerly awaiting my first Swift!

There was a mysterious disappearance of a female Grebe with three chicks a few weeks ago. The chicks were about a week old and hadn't left her back and I'm not ruling out that one of the large catfish that have appeared in the lake over the last few years (in excess of 60lb) gobbled her up as had seen the male being harassed by some unseen underwater menace in the week before the disappearance - anyone ever heard of this? I've seen footage of Catfish eating pigeons in Spain...

The story had a kind of happy ending when one of the chicks reappeared this weekend!! I can only imagine, the remaining male kept it well hidden until it could sort of fend for itself!

Love my park. It may be a bit scabby and full of helms but it continues top provide birding interest and drama right on my doorstep.

[SA Chris]

Had a kite circling low over scout camp on Deeside on the weekend. I excitedly pointed it out to them, and they were disappointed I was referring to a boring bird of prey not a real kite.

[Ross Barker]

Up at Grinah on Sunday I saw a young fox dive under a mossy jumble of boulders. I'd never seen one so far from urban areas before, never mind one that wasn't even fully grown yet!

[GazM]

Two encounters with wild boar today, both times sows with a couple of piglets on tow, the second also had a rather large Daddy boar with them. They're big!