A longish walk around the wooded areas of Howick this morning was very pleasant. It was bright with light westerly breeze. Around the arboretum, lots of small birds were active, the most obvious being several groups of Bullfinches. One party in particular, contained 7 birds, a couple of which allowed quite a close approach for the photos above. An interesting bit of plumage seen in the images is the white margins to the primary feathers, a feature often mooted as being indicative of Northern birds. In this case, these were bog standard British type Bullies in every other respect, including the call.
Only one year tick, revealed itself by calling sharply from the back of the pond - a Kingfisher. It sat for a while, quite distantly, perched in the sunshine.
Further around, a Red Squirrel was too quick for photos as it dashed across the path, 2 Roe Deer and 2 Brown Hares flushed from the wood.
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| A bit more distant than the Bullfinches... |
3 comments:
That bright kingfisher is at least easy to spot in the distance. Unmistakable, really. :-)
Well, you would think so but often they just vanish when perched!
Nice Bully shots, Stewart. I`m always amazed at how small their beak is in comparison to their body size.
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