Goldie M

[Goldie M]

Thanks Wurzel, can I use that as an excuse for not recognising them

Yesterday was a lovely day, cold but crisp, Ideal for a trip out, not for sighting Butterflies though worse luck.
We decided to go to Fleetwood and have a walk by the River Wyre , i say walk by the River, the River walk how ever is in sight of the river itself but quite a distance away over mud flats which is great for the birds but not for walkers.
Has we walked the bushes there were full of bright red Berries, in-spite of this there were very few birds but quite a lot of Sea Gulls one of which was quite cheeky posing for a photograph
We carried on walking and after a while we came to a seat, which we didn't use because it was too cold but there hanging above it was a Silver Heart shaped ornament, that set me thinking that some one instead of flowers had placed it there for a loved one who'd passed a way,( it was very sad, yet warming ).
We returned to the car and traveled on first stopping for a coffee and Doughnut before journeying on through Blackpool and home.
All the way home I was thinking about the person who'd placed that lovely ornament. Goldie

[maverick]

Hi Goldie
Your gull is a great black backed gull (try saying that after a few)
As for you I've said goodbye to the butterflies in the Northwest a month ago
Time for bird watching

[bugboy]

Hi Goldie
Your gull is a great black backed gull (try saying that after a few)
As for you I've said goodbye to the butterflies in the Northwest a month ago
Time for bird watching

Sorry to stick my oar in but I think the yellow legs make it a Lesser black back. Great black backs have pink legs.

[Wurzel]

Great shots Goldie - those streetlamps(?) are quite surreal, almost like Palm trees I agree with Buggy - the slate grey back makes that a Lesser BB Gull. GBB are massive and beautifully contrasting with a jet black back.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Are those streetlights meant to lean like that or have they been subjected to a few onshore gales too many?

[maverick]

Sorry Goldie I was close
Thanks bug boy that will teach me to be s bit more observant

[Goldie M]

Thank's everybody for your input, I'm afraid I'm not too well up (has they say) on Gulls, not really liking them too much, they scare me the way they bomb you at times, on the other hand I love to hear their calls, especially when I'm at the Sea side, we seem to get a lot a round here which amazes me because we're a good way from the Sea side.

The Lamp Posts are like that Wurzel and Dave, I think they've bent them on purpose because of the wind.
Blackpool has changed a lot, for instance, all the Sea Fronts have been remade because of the rising Sea's which came over the front in high winds, there's even grass a long them now,( Quite Posh)

I couldn't resist putting this shot in my post of the Big Dipper which is in South Shore .

Over the last couple of days I've taken a few shots from my back Garden of visiting Birds and birds passing over, the ones passing over I'm not sure of, they were too far a way, but the ones in my garden love the small Fir Tree I've got there and when the weather is cold some times hide in it and also pick food out of it dropped by the Starlings fighting over the Suet pellets above them. Goldie

[MikeOxon]

Even amongst birders, Gulls are regarded as a 'specialist subject' Many species have around four different plumages between juvenile and breeding adult, which makes ID of the rarer species quite tricky. Nice to read that Blackpool front is looking posh

Mike

[Goldie M]

Hi! Mike, we're so posh now we're getting Snobby Goldie

[Wurzel]

That's a great shot of the Blue Tit Goldie - it confused me for a mo util I realised I was seeing the back of it's head

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Hi! Wurzel, I just got a shot before it disappeared into the tree, the smaller birds love that fir Tree Goldie

[Goldie M]

Today I got back from shopping about 3pm and was just having a cup of coffee when I looked out side and there was what I thought at first was a Thrush, I grabbed my camera but by then it had flown onto the back fence, it was then I realised it was bigger than a Thrush but didn't seem big enough for an Hawk, mind you I was a distance from it and in my kitchen, I've tried to compare it to a photo I took last September of a Sparrow Hawk but it still seems small to me, so I wondered if it could be a Merlin? Goldie

[bugboy]

Hi Goldie, that is indeed a Sparrowhawk, a female from the looks of things

[Goldie M]

Thanks Bugboy, I thought so, our Garden is a favourite with them but I'd never seen one actually poke the bushes before to see if any birds were in there. Goldie

[Wurzel]

Great shot of the Sparrowhawk Goldie, as Buggy says it looks like a female as males are slightly smaller and can be pinker on the breast. It might be the colder weather bringing it into your garden or using bird feeders as a trap.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

My Husband feeds the birds every morning Wurzel, so it looks like the SH is watching us, it's not stopped the birds coming though, we'd Gold Finch, Robins, etc in the garden this morning. Goldie

[Wurzel]

Sounds like you're getting good value on the bird feed Goldie, not only are you feeding the songbirds but the Hawks as well! I bet if the producers cottoned on they'd rise the price

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

We're just "Bird Brains" Wurzel Goldie

[Neil Freeman]

Nice Sparrowhawk Goldie I have seen a few but not managed to photograph one yet. A number of years ago one used to visit my Mom & Dads garden and a couple of times I saw it shoot through the gap between the houses from its vantage point in a tree across the road and take bird from their feeders.

Cheers,

Neil.

[MikeOxon]

We had to put some netting across the flight path from the shrubbery to stop the Sprawks using our feeders as a fast-food outlet

Mike