Some of my favourite photos are ones that capture little slices of everyday ‘bird’ life and while the courtship display of the grebes was a recent highlight, and the pictures of a heron catching and eating a fish is an all time favourite, this week a 'feeding' parakeet is the star of the show.
It flew into a tree as I walked by and always fascinated by a bird that looks out of place in the British countryside, I started snapping away and capturing it tucking away at some fresh buds…
I was also delighted to get the chance to take a few pictures of a great spotted woodpecker in the ‘wild’. I had taken some pictures of one on a bird table, but this was up a tree so ‘dans la nature’.
It was also a week of pochards. Common pochards, which while not as striking as the red-crested pochard still have a very distinctive plumage. In winter and spring, male pochards have a bright auburn head, a black breast and tail and a pale grey body. Females are more easily confused with other species like female mallards as they are brown with a greyish body and pale cheeks.
However, during the 'eclipse', the period when ducks grow new feathers, the males lose this distinctiveness and look very similar to the females.
Another cute long-tailed tit was around so I couldn’t resist
And summer must be coming because I saw my first swallow…
And a butterfly, which I believe is a Speckled Wood
The final selection of the week is a collection of what I think of as Japanese style branches and rushes against the beautiful blue sky
(The visit described here was a couple of weeks ago)
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