What's buzzing or flying near you 2023 ?

Immature, non-breeding male Red-Winged Blackbird.

 

How do you know they are non-breeding?

 

By the colouring, mature males have bright red and yellow shoulder patches. I photographed this one defending its nest. If you even get with several feet of the nest they get frantic. The red patch is much more visible when they are flying.

 

this little chick a dee likes this house. hard to see look up a little to the right.

 

Northern Fulmar Petrel.

 

Now come on Strongy, that's a seagull if ever I saw one

 

I don't usually look at this thread - bird phobia - but here's something I saw yesterday ...
I saw two bumble bees fighting over a flower. It was a Fritillaria and there were plenty of them near each other, but these two bees wanted the same one. They jostled and butted each other until eventually both went inside the flower together.
I don't know what was special about that particular flower, especially since it was a double-headed stem, they could have had a flower each ... but no, they both wanted the same one

 

Blackcap.

 

We have two Collared Doves that visit our back garden regularly (we sprinkle seed on the ground). For a few weeks, only one was turning up and we thought we had lost one but today both turned up with a fledgeling. It was almost as big as the parents but with tatty feathers and no collar as yet. Explains why only one was feeding.

 

'ReTerning' Terns.

The Terns are back, three species and resting on the buoys on the Fleet lagoon, Chesil Bank, all have overwintered off the coast of West Africa.
Little Tern.


Sharing a buoy with the larger Sandwich Tern.


Common Tern, just one here, most nest further along the coast on Brownsea Island.

 

Bird numbers here are well down this year

 

Song Sparrow.

 

Green Heron, very shy birds.

 

Here as well, just like Rachel Carson wrote in silent spring.