The mrs is already referring to them as the blue tots, hopefully get some pics of them out and about soon.
Pretty decent year so far, maybe 10 starling, same again for sparrows and however many blue tits that are hiding in the nesting box.
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There could be a lot of them to look out for.
Average clutch size is 8-12
By the size of the box he is probably standing on 4 of them to get a look out the door!
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Red-necked Phalaropes pouring in now. Found another 3 on the sea, this morning, at a new location where I’ve never seen them before.
Female
Male
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This pair of Red-throated Divers have been inseparable for the last few weeks. They should be on eggs very soon.
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This afternoon I sat alone on a high outcrop on the east coast and just watched Fulmars.
They may look like gulls but they’re actually tubenoses and therefore closely related to Albatrosses. It becomes obvious when you watch them fly with their stiff wings using every last breath of the air currents and uplift from the cliffs.
They are true masters of the air and nothing in the Northern Hemisphere comes close to their ability to move effortlessly with minimum effort, IMO.
It was a magical hour or so and the fantastic weather only enhanced the experience.
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Beautiful.
To get 4 pictures as wonderful as that how many frames do you need to take?
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I took maybe 100 but many of them were the same (or very, very similar) to those I posted. Perhaps 10 or so are no good but any of the others could have been used, there were just extremely slight differences and I chose what I thought were the best of the bunch.
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Had a nice wander down the old woodland in Padley gorge this morning. Good views of, among others, redstart, pied flycatcher and wood warbler plus willow warbler, tree pipet and stonechat on the isolated trees and moor above.
As we parked we saw a heron being driven off by a crow (don’t know whether the heron had had a go at the crow’s nest or whether it was just seen as big and therefore undesirable in the neighbourhood).
On the way out a kestrel spiralled up with a small rodent in its talons.
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The classic trio in old woodland, especially oak woods.
M & F of the first two were all busy ferrying food back to their nests, while the warbler was warbling so I guess was still unpaired.
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They still sing regardless.
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Just been out to look / listen for nightjars, but cold and windy - hardly anything flying or calling
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Is it a “known” site Dave?
Reports from mates in the NE seem to indicate that it’s a good year for them.
Yes, there are at least three moors nearby where they are expected. This one, with forest / felled trees / moor is only 10 mins drive from my house, so I’ll pop up again on a better evening.
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Nice.
Clearfell is the perfect habitat* calm, warm conditions at dusk should be perfect.
edit:
*obvs you already know this, I’m not trying to teach my granny to suck eggs 
Yep, and I’ll pack the DEET as well
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