Goldie M

[David M]

Corvids are notorious for harassing raptors, Goldie. Round my part of the world, Red Kites never get a moment's peace. Crows are constantly chasing them around the skies.

[Goldie M]

I never knew that David, I suppose their protecting their territory,( or their food supply ) Goldie

[MikeOxon]

As David wrote, it's fairly common for crows to mob large raptors when they are flying but I've not seen a confrontation like your photos. I suspect that the Sparrowhawk might be a young bird - it looks a bit non-plussed by all the attention.

A Sprawk used to hide regularly in shrubs in our garden, from where it could make a fast raid on the bird feeders. We stopped it from having things too easy by putting some plastic mesh across the direct run but these birds are masters of the 'smash and grab' raid. It's one of the few birds I've photographed with a macro lens - the Sprawk was far too intent on its prey to bother about me getting close!

[trevor]

HI Goldie;
Well done with that Sparrow Hawk, i particularly like the last image.
Last year my Cat caught a Sparrow Hawk while it was stripping the feathers of a bird it had caught.
I just managed to see the Hawk fly off, minus many feathers!. The prey bird didn't fly off though.

All the best,
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Great Sparrowhawk shot Goldie Looking out for 'mobbing' is a great way to find raptors, I've been lucky enough to see Montagu's Harriers, Lesser Spotted Eagles and Tawny Owls all by following the crow of angry Crows

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

That's interesting Mike, I don't think I'd fancy getting to close to a Hawk though I love birds but when they start flying so do I if I'm too close It looks like these Megpies are going to keep our gardens clear of not only Hawk's, they've got a bit aggressive with other birds , the only one I've seen stand up to them is a Wood Pigeon .That's only when their feeding though, having said that they killed a young Starling in late Spring when it'd had just started to fly

Hi! Trevor, sounds like the Hawk got a taste of it's own medicine, well done Cat, I don't really like to see anything attacked though
Thanks for your post and I'm pleased you liked the photo

Thanks Wurzel, glad you like the shots, I'll have to follow the crows next time time I see a crowd of them as long has the Crow's aren't too close

We've had two lovely days here, cold mornings but lovely sunshine in the afternoons so we've been busy sorting our trees and other things in the garden, we've had visits from quite a few Butterflies, some, I've managed to get shots of, some, in my Neighbours garden I struggled with I took a photo also of a rather good looking Spider UGH! Goldie

[bugboy]

I love that side on shot of the Red Admiral Goldie

[Goldie M]

Thanks Bugboy for your comment, Your like me then, I love the unusual

I've been in the Garden for much of the week, it's taken ages it seems and we've still not done, I must admit to neglecting it because of my butterflying But this time of year we start sorting it out and like other years we always have company, Butterflies ,Bee's and Birds I've posted a photo of one side of the garden that the Butterflies at this time of year love

Whilst the weather here has been so nice I've sat in the garden quite a lot and yesterday was perfect, hot Sun but every now and then a large cloud so I was able to get quite a few shots of my visitors. Goldie

[millerd]

You've had better weather up there this week again, Goldie - lots of rain and pretty chilly down here near London, though the sun was out this morning. You're also seeing butterflies I've not seen for weeks: Small Tortoiseshells and Peacocks! The Small White is a good shot too, as they are tricky to get close to at the best of times. They all love the purple wallflowers, don't they!

Dave

[Goldie M]

Thanks Dave for your post, your right the weather's been great here for the passed week and the Butterflies do love those purple flowers, I took the shots with a more close up lens because it was in the garden I could get much closer to the BF's and for some reason they let me get very close ,( they were so busy feeding )Goldie

[Paul Harfield]

Hi Goldie
It looks like you have had a great selection of visitors to your garden, you obviously look after them. I have barely seen anything in my garden other than Small Whites for the last few days

[Goldie M]

Hi! Jack, I just hope they keep coming we've had some heavy rain yesterday and last night so they may not be in such great shape now.
I 've got three Buddiela bush's in the garden and when they finish my Autumn flowers take over which helps to bring Butterflies into the garden, I just wish it would bring some Coppers in, but they seem to like open country or Dunes like Southport, you never know though they might just arrive some day. Goldie

[Neil Freeman]

Some lovely photos from your garden recently Goldie and I'm glad you have been getting some better weather at last.

Cheers,

Neil.

[David M]

Looks like we're all in for an extended spell of good weather.

Shame it's taken till the eve of October to receive it!

[Maximus]

Your garden looks like butterfly heaven, Goldie. Lovely photos of a nice variety of butterflies too I've not seen a Peacock for some time

[Goldie M]

Thank you Neil, David and Max for your compliments,
I was very surprised Max when I saw the Peacock also the Painted Lady, I've not seen them since though

David, I got my Sun shade out this morning, the weather was great then by lunch time the Sun had disappeared, I did get a few more shots though before hand

Glad you enjoyed the photos Neil thank you for the compliment, the Sun disappeared this afternoon,which was very disappointing,
we're hoping it's back tomorrow

I did manage to get some shots today and some yesterday( yesterday was a better day for the Sun but windy) still the shots I got today brightened me no ends
I went to Hall-Lee-Brook I think it will be for the last time this year, only the Speckies were there, didn't see any other Butterflies so I assumed they'd all plumbed for gardens like mine with plenty of Flowers in , which is okay with me

I'm putting a few more photos in my post, I took them yesterday and this morning , same kind of Butterflies though, still no Coppers
I'll be looking for them in the next few days though Goldie

[Wurzel]

Mighty fine Red Admirals Goldie and the Painted a Lady from the previous post looks in very fine fettle, could it be starting the journey back South?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

You have some great, late flowering nectar sources there, Goldie. What is that last one? The flowers look a bit like honesty but the stems are totally different.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Wurzel, I've been rather busy lately but nearly back to normal now Glad you like the photos I think the Painted Lady was ready for take off because I've not seen her since

Hi! David, the plant is a Wall Flower Perennial, I've forgotten it's name but it's quite out standing because it flowers all year, except Winter of course If you buy one go for the Purple one, when it gets leggy stalks if you trim it right back it re-flowers, I trimmed mine back after Spring flowering and it's fantastic again Goldie

Since my last posting the Butterflies have been very busy feeding in the garden ready for Hibernation I suppose, I've had two new visitors though, a comma and a dragon Fly Darter I think he very kindly posed for a photo

We also went to Southport Dunes yesterday I was hoping to see a Copper but no such luck, a Peacock, Small White and a Tort were my only tally, I'm actually seeing more Butterflies in the Garden then when I go looking for them now, they've taken to the gardens with the Wild flowers nearly finishing.

I'll have to Finnish off now and read the postings tomorrow , cup of tea time Goldie

[Padfield]

I have to say, Goldie, your pictures are getting better and better. They paint a wonderful picture of life in your garden and further afield. Sitting here in chilly Switzerland, with the snow threatening, it is lovely to see them.

Guy