Joys of Spring part 2

You know Spring is well and truly here when you see the first ducklings taking to the water. On the first day of May a friend and I went looking for them along the canal. At first there was no sign of any female mallards or ducklings, but then a family of 9 ducklings appeared from the rushes at the canal bank. One of them already seems a bit more adventurous than the others, perhaps to its future peril.

The following photographs were taken in my brother’s garden. For the last few years each spring a baby hare, leveret, appears scampering about close to the house. Leverets are left alone in safe spots by their mothers. The mothers only come back briefly once or twice a day to feed them. I tried to photograph this year’s leveret, “Wee Tottie” with my big lens but every time I was about to press the shutter he/she darted off. These photos courtesy of Andrew and Fiona.

At first glance the leveret looks like a baby rabbit, but the long dark tipped ears are the give away!

Here are some other photos of birds making the most of the blossoms. Firstly a chaffinch.

Here is a female bullfinch. Bullfinches usually go about in their pairs. Nearby was a much brighter male but he was more difficult to photograph this time.