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Buddy and Holly have finally branched out from their nest. They are now ready to begin flying and hunting lessons. Here are some pictures of them this evening. When I braved the midges in Buzzard Wood this evening I could hear their high pitched squeals from the trees. I saw that the nest was emptyContinue reading “Branching Out”

Now that lock down restrictions have eased and we have been able to go further afield I was able to visit Aberlady Bay Nature Reserve in East Lothian. It was lovely to get a change of scene! The tide was in over the estuary and I was welcomed back by the evocative call of aContinue reading “Bay Watch”

A month or so ago I was going up to the woodpeckers’ hole and watching young woody poking his head out and squealing for food. Now I have the pleasure of watching him feed from the nuts hanging in my garden. Sometimes its the dad that comes but I know this is one of theContinue reading “Young Uns”

If you came across this bright yellow bird in a hedge you could be forgiven for thinking that someone’s budgie had escaped. You would not hear “Who’s a pretty boy then”, as this bird gets the reputation for cheeping “a little bit of bread and no chee…eese”. It is the yellowhammer and I’ve been hearingContinue reading “Hedgerow Beauties”

As well as keeping my eye on the buzzard chicks I’ve also been seeing a family of wrens in the wood and the other day I was delighted to see a deer and her fawn. First, here are some pictures of Jenny Wren tending to her hungry fledglings. She may be Britain’s second smallest birdContinue reading “Woodland Families”

Visitors returning to the Isle of Coll each year get called “summer swallows” by the island residents. Unfortunately this year we have not been able to migrate there for summer but thankfully nature is not in lockdown. This year our swallows returned in April and have paired up and got busy with the nesting season.Continue reading “Summer Swallows”

The kestrels I photographed in the tree hole last week have fledged! Here are two of the siblings sitting on a branch, waiting for their dinner. Their cries for food gave them away, although we had seen a kestrel flying over the field. As a parent approaches they cry out for food, and one seemsContinue reading “Kestrels Out and About”

A few weeks ago there was an explosion of common blue damselflies around the ponds and meadows. They will have come from eggs laid in the water the year before which hatch into larvae which live underwater until fully grown. Once adults the larvae climb out of the water onto stems and shed their skinsContinue reading “Damsels and Dragons”

Blackbirds and starlings just love the birdbath in my neighbour’s garden. They don’t like mine as it used to have a model bird in the middle and even though that’s been sawn off it still leaves an uncomfortable stump. So I pointed my FBL (flippin’ big lens) out the top window and aimed it downContinue reading “Bath Time”

The last time I posted pictures of Buddy and Holly, the buzzard chicks, was two weeks ago. Look how much they’ve grown! They have changed from fuzzy white alien looking creatures to larger winged raptor chicks. Here are the before and after pictures; My friend Alison and I went up to see how they wereContinue reading “Buzz Babies”