Pauline, Wurzel – thanks for the kind comments Apologies up front for the lack of butterfly images, have had no opportunities presented recently I am still mainly on garden watch mode, have made a few observations whenever I have been out such as the trip to work, but few present photo opportunities...

Hi Pauline I have been very restricted of late with being confined to the garden or very close to home, I hope to hear soon what the prognosis is to get my knee sorted out – the sooner the better from my point of view. The Blackcaps are no longer visiting but that is compensated by a pair of Great S...

Wurzel Your diary is becoming compulsory reading. I must admit I get tempted to branch into other wildlife such as bees and hoverflies and ladybirds but must leave that to future days. I got a ladybird identification pamphlet online that I saved for future use and I am sure I saw a good bee site whi...

Pauline

Just to add my own welcome back and sorry to hear about your problems during the past winter - here's hoping you have a season to remember!

Phil

Cheers Wurzel The Blackcaps are still visiting, have seen them three times this afternoon already; I am sticking with my belief they are a local pair but are visiting the feeder to supplement their food intake, which is actually quite worrying if they cannot find enough insect intake. As both are vi...

Guy Glad to oblige. There is a line of some kind crossed when it stops being a Dunnock and becomes a recognizable Dunnock (or any other species), it adds some additional dimension as you see it's life unfold over the months and years. Mon 6 May By far the warmest day of the year, but the previous we...

Wurzel - Thanks. I expect to see Goosander most months, along with things like Dipper and Red Grouse one of the benefits of living here. Mon 29 A deep low for me at the moment. The weather is awful and I have suffered a re-occurence of an old knee problem that means no walks either. I have struggled...

Dave I think pigeons will nest in every month of the year in some places, and Crossbills will have finished breeding by now as they are very early starters, as are Grey Herons I believe. Today I saw my first Mallard chicks, two broods in two different places and I saw Blackbird, House Sparrow and St...

Guy, Wurzel - thanks for the kind comments. Wurzel I can see what you mean about the expression on Little Owls, but I enjoy them all the same - the pair in the picture are only a 10 minute walk from my front door and the wall they are on is photographable for most of its length so I have come to lov...

Guy
Lovely shots and interesting subjects. A bit like you I like the results / cost ratio of more basic cameras and intend to replace my current camera next month with another bridge model. I just couldn't see at this time the benefits I would obtain spending 5 - 6 times the money.
Phil

Sorry Wurzel, I must have mislead, I didn't post the 'poor' picture but one of the better ones. Sun 14 April Well it is at least warmer, but still not ideal up here. Yesterday it was generally overcast with a very fresh wind and later becoming wet; today was warmer but extremely windy and changing f...

Glad to hear things are picking up where you are Wurzel, a Brimstone at any time here would be nice. Hope the promises of thing to come come to fruition

Phil

Nicely done Neil, saw my first Small Torts on Sat but none hanging around for pictures.

Phil

Cheers Wurzel, nice to see you are getting a few species now Sun 7 Apr A week of lows then highs Discovered on Wed that a Long-eared Owl had been seen on my patch just a mile from my house on the 28 March, that caused some gnashing of teeth. On Thurs saw a photo taken there of it on the 1 April (I m...

Dave it cannot come quick enough to be honest 31 March / 1 April Yesterday I decided to do my usual circuit, the first time I had been higher up since the snow fell, and there is still a fair bit of snow about on the tops, especially where it had drifted in the wind. The photos show what I mean, the...

Nice shots Wurzel
Kingfishers seldom seem show me photo opportunities and Treecrepers can be difficult to get pictures of as good as yours
Phil

30 March Managed to get out for a few hours this afternoon, so went down to the canal and along to Bingley Bog North. A lot of the snow has now gone locally down in the valley but it stays cold, although the wind has eased. Some decent spells of sunshine today as well. There does not appear to be a ...

Hi Neil. Yes, saw lots of worse affected places on the news, some of the smaller Pennine villages within 5 - 10 miles of here were cut off for a few days till they could be dug access routes through the drifts, the wind was blowing the snow almost horizontally and made a bad situation worse Sat 29 M...

Sat 23 March We are in the middle of a white-out up here. Masses of snow on the back of strong easterlies is causing heavy drifts in many places, and it is so co......ld!!!. I had to shift some 2 - 3 feet drifts to be able to move my car just so I could access my snow shovel. I very much doubt we wi...

Dave thanks for that I am lucky that I have a family of them living within half a mile of home that like to sit on a wall well within reasonable photograph range so I have quite a few shots on file. In addition another two families of them live within a mile but I see them a lot less frequently. I w...