Lean times

The last few weeks have been very poor for spotting birds as there has not been too many to be seen. The weather may have been a factor as there has been high winds and Baltic temperatures much of the time.

After last month's large variety of photos there have been little or no opportunities to snap birds these last few weeks. Even the common Herons which I normally see lots off have been posted missing for several weeks though I did manage to see one this morning. That is possibly due to the fact that their breeding season can start in February. Anyhow sightings on the river have been restricted to Mallards, Goosanders, Gulls and the occasional Dipper and Grey Wagtail.

The one highlight was a sighting of a Kingfisher two days ago, the first for several weeks and in a spot where I have seen one before. It is quite possible that the nest is very close by.

It has been equally quiet in the garden though we are now getting a lot of unwelcome visits from Rooks. They and the Starlings are managing to see off the fatty balls alarmingly quickly! We still see a couple of Robins now and again and today we had rarer visits from a Wren and a couple of Siskins. There have been Blue Tits at the nesting box briefly but I haven't seen them return so far.

Good weather for February!

February was a very mixed month as far as weather was concerned. However there were several days where a hard frost in the morning was followed by beautiful sunny conditions with blue skies.

I took my DSLR with me on my morning walks on these days and was duly rewarded by several photo opportunities which I was happy to accept.

The highlight for me was seeing a pair of Kestrels though unfortunately they were just a little too far away for me to get the best of photos.

Now we are in March and the weather has deteriorated again and there is little point taking my DSLR out with me at the moment. Fingers crossed that things will improve soon.