More birds around the Borders

A bit of a delayed post, but after returning from the Farne Islands I met up with my very good friend Ron, who provided the venue for these pictures. It's hard to believe that 30 minutes before these were taken, we were experiencing a heavy thundserstorm! The pictures are of an adult and juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker, and a Jackdaw.

Farne Islands

Took a trip to the Farne Islands earlier this week, and what a spectacle! Some 150,000 birds were in residence on the islands, with Common, Arctic and Sandwich Terns, Guillemots, Razor Bills, Shags, Cormorants, Kittiwakes and some 40,000 Puffins making up the majority. The noise (and the smell!) was beyond belief, and every available ledge, crevis, nook and cranny was occupied by a bird. Well worth a visit.

Red Kites

I was in mid Wales last week, and I couldn't resist a visit to the Red Kite feeding station at Gigrin Farm. What an experience as over 100 birds gathered in the skies above, and took part in a magnificent feeding frenzy. Well worth a visit and I would recommend pre-booking the Big Tower hide for photographers. See http://www.gigrin.co.uk/

Summer Visitors

Well, the summer visiting birds seem to be piling in by the day. I took a stroll along the edges of the West Pennine Moors today, to see what was around. The skies were alive with Swallows, and every other tree was hosting at least one Willow Warbler. I spent a good couple of hours tracking down a Whitethroat (which refused to pose for a pic!), and managed a nice shot of a Willow Warbler later in the day. Nice record of both species.

Nesting Treecreeper

Had a short dash up into the local woodland this afternoon. I was trying to photograph a green woodpecker which I had seen earlier in the week (but of course didn't have the camera!). The woody remined elusive, but I managed to get a couple of shots of a treecreeper with nest building material.

Odds and Ends

Just thought I'd stick a few more pics on the blog which I have taken over the last few months. No particular theme, but mainly birds and perhaps the odd fish!!

Swans at the local Nature Reserve

I was down at the local Nature Reserve last week, and came across a pair of Mute Swans who were just begining the process of nesting. The reserve was quite busy and the tranquility was soon shattered as a dog encroached a little too close to the Swan's territory. Made a good picture, though!