UKC

For those interested, here’s some of my favs from last year. Great views of Goldcrest, think 2nd Jan 2021. Oddly, in a eucalyptus tree planted on reclaimed mining land. 

Distant buzzard in a dead tree.  And a Robin doing a slack line. 

On the canal in early Jan. mainly frozen, so the kingfisher was forced to fish at a loch with running water. Moorhen and early morning roe deer. 

Pair of rooks, wood pigeon and inquisitive roe deer. 

Watched this barn owl successfully hunting a rat. 

Still in January 2021. Stonechat and roe deer.

February: yellowhammer, great tit having a good sing. 

March: pheasant, red legged partridge (saw a covey of 7 greys this avo).

April: Goldcrest collecting nesting material

A group of curlew (36 at one point) stopped off for a few days whilst migrating. 

Male reed bunting, lapwing, hares going bonkers. 

Footscray Meadows near Sidcup. Parakeet shadow. 

Still in Footscray. 

 Cliffe RSPB reserve. Avocet, linnet, kestrel, Sparrowhawk, greenshank. 

Absolutely gorgeous. 

Have you ever thought about doing a charity calendar or something?  I'd buy one.

So would I.

I'm especially inpressed by the kingfisher, but they are all lovely.

This year I printed 20 calendars as Christmas presents for folk (inc dog walkers who I chat with). Charity calendar is the next step I reckon.  I actually save my fav’s in a separate calendar folder, it makes posting this lot a bit easier.

And thanks!

More from Footscray: great tit fighting with its own reflection, and coot feeding its chicks. 

Back in Wigan: orange tip, speckled wood and the usual owl framing itself in some odd shaped branch. When I saw it I went ‘wow’.  

Leaping hare and a stunning wheatear.

May 2021:  The usual tawny owl,  another wheatear, and whimbrel. The whimbrel, part of a bigger flock, hang about on another patch of reclaimed mining spoil heaps. 

Cuckoo Flower, bluebell and recently arrived whitethroat 

Nuthatch at nest hole, female roe and usual tawny drying it’s wings - I believe the female kicks the male out of the nest when the eggs hatch (he might eat the chicks?), so it’s a good time to spot male owls, often given away by mobbing blackbirds. 

First new born roe deer, linnet and grey squirrel. 

More roe deer kids. Fantastic to see these. 

That framed owl is stunning.

Thanks. I still can’t work out how the branch was formed. 

Magpies hassling a buzzard and more roe deer. And a fox, that quickly legged it when it saw me. 

A load of wren chicks must have just left the nest. Hard to photo as they are usually hurried in the undergrowth, but this photo was taken straight through a hedge. Well chuffed with it. Good year for goldfinch as well.  Dunnock and greater spotted woodpecker. 

June: pheasant ( very early in the morning, spent 30 minutes making its presence known).  And many of the trees are ‘nibbled’ to roe deer height. 

Whitethroat with a beak of grubs for its young. Young lung tailed tit and baby blue tit. The nuthatches: I’d calculated when I thought the young would fledge, based on guesstimating when the eggs hatched due to increased frequency in adults going to the nest (indicating the female was getting food rather than incubating).  One Sunday, I said “the nuthatches could fledge soon so let’s pay a visit”. When we got there we watched 4 young nuthatches leave the nest. Bit blown away TBH. The best is about ten feet from a footpath, great to watch them. Goldcrest nest nearby, as do wrens.

Well I can't match the quality of any of those photos but I'll chip in a bit more 2021 wildlife, with a bit of an aquatic theme from a trip over to Anglesey.  Landing on the Skerries isn't allowed while the birds are nesting but there's a little pebbly beach by the lagoon that uncovers when the tide goes out and paddlers can get away with hopping out of their boats for a leg stretch and a cuppa without disturbing the residents.

Snoozing seal (let's call him Bob). 
Arctic tern. 
Some very ugly ducklings indeed.  (Either herring gull or black backed gull chicks, I'm not sure which.) 
And you've got to love a puffin haven't you?
(I was very happy to see a few puffins still hanging about, thought they might have already gone back out to sea while a trip to the coast was still out of bounds.)

Great stuff. The puffin looks proud. 

A few more from another trip a few weeks later.  (The same one I mentioned already in the 'best bits of 2021 thread.)

Compass jellyfish.
Manx shearwaters.
No wildlife in this one, just strangely hypnotic waves and an unusual 'Fata Morgana' mirage.

So (s)he should after a job well done; puffling hatched, fledged and away and still looking as dapper as that.

Keeping with the aquatic theme, a couple of more local inland ones.  (The dipper is by far the best wildlife photo I have ever taken - it could almost be one of yours.)

Your wave photo nearly sent me to sleep - can’t work out why it’s so good, but it is. And the dipper is great. 

I love your wildlife photos & posts btw

Ta

Interestingly the GSW appears to have a red cap which would indicate a juvenile. I thought they had adult plumage by the first winter (assuming it’s a spring 2021 bird).