What's Buzzing or Flying near you today.... 2014

What a lovely sight Yvonne,
thank you for sharing,
Jenny

 

Nice shot of the owl @Yvonne Donnellon. I've yet to see an owl in the wild let along photo one as clearly as you did.

@strongylodon , always love to see your wildlife photos. The second shag photo is so sharp...

Now I got rather confused: when not in breeding plumage how does one tell a shag and a cormorant apart? The birds in my post (see post #6 on page 1) should they be shags instead of cormorants?

 

Back in November when I was tidying the greenhouses for winter I found some chrysalises, I thought they could be small white butterfly since a)I saw lots of them about during summer, b) the chrysalises were smallish. Just for fun and curiosity I put a couple in a bottle and left them on the kitchen window sill. This morning one of them hatched .... I gave it an impatiens flower, hope that will keep the butterfly going for a while.

 

Lovely, it's fascinating to watch the wings unfold isn't it - reminds me of my childhood,
thank you,
Jenny

 

The pair of Red Kites were back in the same apple tree this afternoon. A few days ago I spotted one carrying nesting material, so it looks like they may nest near my plot.

It came from a nest 2 miles away and hatched in 2005. Nine years is supposed to be a very long time indeed for a tag to still be attached.

 

It seems they don't need a lot of space then - still quite near it's old home,
Jenny

 

Sadly no photograph but I saw a ladybird in the garden today. I must try and get a photo tomorrow. It was on the Rosemary so hopefully will be easy to find.

 

I'm so lucky, I have a location close to me where there is a plentiful supply of voles, rats and mice which supports a healthy population of Owls and Raptors. Pair that with how protective everyone who has discovered them, they have a haven to thrive in. I take these photos whilst out with the dog, as long as you keep a safe distance (£5000 fine for disturbing them) they will hunt for hours during the day, usually at a height of 2-3 metres from the ground. As soon as the weather gets better I intend to leave the dog at home and set up a hide in the trees you can see in the background to see if I can get some closer shots of them.

 

They are smaller than Cormorants and have a thinner snakier (?) neck and a distinct green eye. The tuft is the main giveaway and a steeper rise on the forehead, not sloped back. The beak isn't quite so hooked at the end as a Cormorant and has a darker belly. Not easy to id unless close up. The three in you previous pics are Cormorants.

Poole Quay this afternoon and another decent day.
A pair of Goldeneye ducks were the only birds on the water.




Some Turnstones were taking the easy option with fish throw outs on a slip way, they are fairly tame birds not bothering about the people walking by just yards away.




This one shook it's head as I snapped it and got a really weird effect.

 

The geese look like domestic Geese Woo not Greylag (which have grey legs) but attractive all the same.

 

Great pictures Woo!