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Hi Wurzel,

Just my standard FZ150 on maximum 24x zoom hand held, sitting still in a corner of the garden on a step with my elbows braced on my knees.

Cheers,

Neil.

One of the downsides of working all week is that when the weekend comes along there is 'stuff' to do around the house. So it was that, despite a beautiful early spring day with clear blue skies, I was busy today and didn't manage to get out anywhere.
I did however spend a bit of time tidying up in the garden with a background of birdsong that lifted the spirits a bit. Along with the usual selection of Tits, Dunnocks, Blackbirds and Robins there was a small brownish bird scuttling about that I felt sure was Goldcrest. Grabbing my camera, I managed to get a couple of long distance shots that confirmed it.

For a while there was also a buzzard circling high above the garden against the clear blue sky.

A definite feel of spring in the air today

Neil.

You've done remarkably well to capture that Goldcrest, Neil.

I've seen two during the week just gone but this species moves so quickly that a photograph has been impossible on both occasions.

I echo what David said and as they're so small as well doubly ace!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks for the comments chaps

Sunday 3rd March

Not as nice today as yesterday, more cloud and less sun, and another day of pottering about the house and garden.

Another small brown bird that I have been seeing regularly in the garden is the lovely little 'Jenny Wren'. A secretive little bird that is usually scuttling about in the leaf litter beneath the shrubs. Up until today I had not been able to get a photo but finally managed this morning, albeit through the back window into the garden.
The pair of Blackcaps were also back again this morning, hiding in the bushes and making quick dashes out to the feeders and back again.

The male kept sitting with his back to me
whilst the female would hide further down in the bushes,
Looking back at last years notes, I saw my first butterfly of 2012, a Comma, on March 11th. I will be working all week so fingers crossed for next weekend

Bye for now,

Neil.

Great shot of the Redcap Neil
I saw my first butterfly of 2012 in Feb and this year here we are in March and not even a sniff! Still this could be the week - good luck at your end

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Tuesday's your best bet, Wurzel. 12c and plenty of sunshine.

Don't waste it!

Still no butterflies for me, I was stuck in work the other week when we had a couple of decent days and the last couple of weekends have been a bit damp and gloomy. This weekend has been little better but at least the sun did pop out briefly this afternoon albeit a bit too late to be of much use.

I was looking out of the window into the back garden this morning whilst it was drizzling and thinking about re-filling the bird feeders if it stopped when a small brown blur shot out of one of the shrubs onto the last remaining fatball in one of the feeders. It was a Goldcrest and it remained there just long enough for me to grab my camera and get a couple of shots through the window. There has been one of these delightful little birds in the garden for the past few weeks and this is the first time I have ever seen one stay still for more than a second or two.
After last years unusually warm and dry March, this year has returned to more like usual for around here in the midlands. I am keeping my fingers crossed for Easter in a couple of weeks time as I have a week off work then and am hoping to be able to get out a bit.

Bye for now,

Neil.

Nice shot there I' m really starting to feel "crest envy" Last year we had really warm weather and lots of early sightings but hopefully this more "normal" weather will mean rather than dribs and drabs we get a good load of butterflies all at once - I'm hoping for a good Easter too!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Easter is creeping closer and the weather shows no sign of improving yet.

I have been looking through my notes and photos from this time last year and am posting these below for comparison.
I saw my first 2012 Speckled wood in the garden on 25th March
Also my first Small White on the same day
Mind you, despite the unusually warm days last march, the nights were still very cold.
The line below is copy and pasted from my 26th March entry on page 3 of this dairy

'It may be bit early still around here despite the weather.....glorious days but I am still scraping ice off my windscreen at 06.30am when I go to work.'

It just shows that we remember the warm sunny days but forget that the nights were still below freezing.

Saturday 23rd March 2013

A few inches of snow on the ground and a day of cold winds and sleet and light snow in the air. As write this it is still snowing abeit lighter now than earlier.
Among the few visitors to the garden that I spotted today were a Blackbird and Thrush. These photos were taken through the kitchen window, it was too cold and windy to go out without 'kitting up' by which time the birds would have probably flown. I am afraid that I am not clued up enough on birds to tell if the Thrush is a Mistle or Song variety.
There was also a pair of House Sparrows, now there is a bird that I don't see anywhere near as often as I used to. 'Spugs' as my dad always called them used to be the commonest bird around but this pair was the first I have seen this year. The female kept herself hidden in the depths of the bushes but the male nipped out a couple of times.
Oh well, I suppose March is one of those months in which the weather can go either way but it is some time since I have seen this much snow at this time of year. I do however remember having snow in April more than once when I was younger.

Bye for now,

Neil.

The North wind doth blow and we shall have snow,
And what will poor robin do then, poor thing?......

It's ridiculous isn't it, Neil?

I've just spent a couple of days in Abergavenny and it is totally snow-clad and austere. Hard to believe that this time last year temperatures were edging into the seventies.

Swansea, by comparison, has been almost singularly untouched by this weather event (apart from the cold).

However, it looks like many parts of the UK will have a white Easter, which isn't something that's happened very often in my 45 year lifetime.

Let's grit our teeth for another week or so and hope that, by mid-April at least, things will be back to normal.

I could handle it if there was an end in sight but the weather reports see to suggest that it'll get slightly better to then only get worse again. Still your bird shots warm the cockles as it were

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks for the comments guys

With the family stuff over Easter done and dusted and with the rest of the week off work I had to get out to blow the cobwebs off, whatever the weather.
As it happened, today proved to be the best day for a long time, clear blue skies and loads of sun albeit with an underlying cold wind. I decided to spend a couple of hours this afternoon checking out some local spots.

First off I nipped around to Shadowbrook Meadows where I had seen a number of Peacocks last summer. Unfortunatly the wind was quite strong here and even in the sheltered bits it still felt cold. Not surprisingly I did not see any butterflies but I was surprised with the number of Long Tailed Tits that I saw, easily the most numerous bird here today.
I then continued on round to Elmdon Park Nature Reserve where I had seen Peacocks and Commas in good numbers last March. I checked out the sheltered locations that know about, again without any butterflies being seen but as with Shadowbrook there were Long Tailed Tits everywhere
Many of the paths through the trees were very muddy with standing water that in many places was still iced over in mid afternoon.
After a few false alarms caused by leaves being blown in the wind, I was circling around to do a second circuit when I disturbed a rather tatty looking Small Tortoiseshell that was basking on the path in front of me. It circled around before vaninishing over the shrubs and despite me waiting around for a while, it did not return.
This was my first butterfly of the year and as it turned out the only one seen today.
Apparently the temperature hit the giddy heights of 8 or 9 degrees today, in the sun and out of the wind, although it was still bl**dy cold in the shade as evidenced by the ice still on puddles in mid afternoon. Another frosty night forecast tonight with another sunny (with a cold wind) day tomorrow, hopefully I will be able to get out again. I just need to find the right spot out of the wind

Neil.

Those dead leaves are tricky little blighters I've been caught out by them a few times myself already this year Still it's nice when the other way round and that leaf takes off and lands promptly Congrats on breaking the 2013 duck

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Saturday 6th April

Well thats more like it, a lovely but slightly nippy morning turned into a decent afternoon, the first one that actually felt like Spring. The temperature actually reached double figures and with thre cold wind finally dropping it even felt warm

I got all the domestics out of the way this morning and managed to get a couple of hours out this afternoon to trundle around some local spots again.

First stop was Castle Hills by Solihull. I checked out some sunny sides of hedgerows but, given that this site is a bit exposed and rises up, there was still a bit of a cool wind in evidence here, I suppose there is a clue in the name

I was just heading back to the car when I disturbed a Small Tortoiseshell that flew high up into an Oak tree and stayed there.
I next went to Elmdon Park Nature Reserve, a site where I saw numerous Commas and Peacocks in March 2012. I came here earlier last week as reported in my last entry but today seemed far more promising, the last vestiges of snow had vanished from beneath the trees and there was no ice on the puddles.
I made my way to a couple of sheltered spots that I know about checking out likely looking basking spots. Sure enough I soon spotted a tell tale splash of orange, a Comma in almost exactly the same spot that I saw one of my first Commas last year.
I stayed and watched it for a while as it took off and circled around before landing again in the same area. Photos below all of this one individual.
I carried on a bit further and disturbed a Peacock which flashed its eyespots at me before taking off and, like the Small Tortoiseshell at Castle Hills, went up into a tree and stayed there.

All in all, a great couple of hours with single examples of three species seen, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma and Peacock.
Although I saw my first butterfly, a Small Tortoiseshell, a few days ago, today felt more like the first day of my season

Bye for now.

Great stuff Neil I know what you mean about it feeling like the first day of the season even though it wasn't as for me anyway I went out expecting rather than hoping to see.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

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

Phil

Thanks for the comments Wurzel and Phil

Sunday 7th April

Not as much sun today, more of a hazy overcast. It was still pleasant though and I decided that it was time I did a bit in the garden, something which the weather of late had prevented me doing.

I was immediately struck by how far behind things are this year, nothing in flower and buds only just starting to show some growth on most of the shrubs.
In the couple of hours that I was out there, I did not see a single insect of any kind. By this time last year bees and hoverflies were buzzing around and Speckled Woods and Holly Blues had been fluttering around for a week or so. I reckon the season is running something like four weeks later than last year around her.

Closer inspection of the more 'unkempt' part of the garden revealed a couple of splashes of colour, some Celandines and a Dandelion that yesterdays sun must have brought out. It is amazing how such little things can mean so much sometimes
Last autumn I had bought some dwarf buddleias online. On arrival I had potted these up into 3" pots for the winter and today I potted them up into their final containers. I cannot remember what these are called. I have the labels around somewhere, will have to look for them.
I am not sure where these will end up in the garden but being in pots I can move them around.
Bye for now.

Neil.

Weather a bit mixed this week, some sunny spells, high winds on Wednseday and some heavy showers yesterday, at least it felt like spring usually does around here even if it is a few weeks late. I finished work for the week at lunchtime and after doing a bit around the house decided to spend an hour or so in the garden, just pottering about.
In truth, the pottering soon turned into sitting and watching. There is a Sallow to one side of the garden on which the catkins finally decided to start flowering this week and there seemed to be a steady stream of bees bustling back and forth over it. As well as the bees there were a various birds in and around the branchs including Great Tits, Blue Tits and Blackcaps.
There were also some visitors that I am not sure of. The first were a pair of either Chiffchaffs or Willow Warblers, they didn't make any sound so I could not hear the distinctive Chiffchaff call. Looking at some online images I am leaning towards Willow Warblers but am happy to be corrected by any bird experts.
The other bird I am not sure of is a new one for me, a bit of googling is making me think Pied Flycatcher but again I am willing to be corrected.
All the above photos are crops from shots taken with the birds about 30 feet away up in the Sallow so not best quality but I am happy with them as record shots.

I only saw one butterfly today, a Comma that passed through the garden but as this was my first garden butterfly this year I was well chuffed

Looks like a bit of sun is forecast for tomorrow, with a bit of luck I should be able to get out for a couple of hours in the afternoon.

Bye for now.

Neil.