ROSSALL AT HIGH WATER.

Sunday was a pleasant day and a trip to Rossall for the waders at high water was on the cards.About 30-40 sanderling some in full summer plumage were present with the same number of dunlin,about a dozen turnstones and half a dozen ringed plover,plenty of birds to keep us busy with the lenses.After one or two disturbances from the dogs and their walkers it turned out to be a busy couple of hours with these super birds.Even though I did one or two things wrong I still managed a few decent images some of which I have posted below for your enjoyment.GREAT BIRDS,GREAT WEATHER GREAT COMPANY,MUST RETURN.

YOUNG PEREGRINE FALCONS.

The church in Preston with the largest steeple has been the nesting place for a pair of Peregrine Falcons for a number of years.This year they have successfully fledged two female falcons and I and a few other photographers have had the pleasure of watching the spectacle of these young falcons learning to fly and hunt.I made a few early morning visits to capture some of the action in the early morning light.The image of the  young falcon with the pigeon was the first time I saw it returning with a kill and even though the image is heavily cropped I was more than pleased to capture the moment.I've posted a few images below for your enjoyment.

Catching Up.

Trying to catch up with my blog in this bad weather.These are a few images I captured on my travels,not sure of the name of the first orchid,a pair of common blue damselfly and four-spotted chasers were taken at the ponds on Cottam,the bee orchid was found at Fairhaven,while the unknown moth and the large skipper butterfly were taken in my own garden.The large skipper is a first for the garden.

THE WILLOW WARBLER.

Early spring and the sound of chiffchaff's and willow warbler's is music to our ears,but as the canopy opens and the vegetation grows these birds seem to melt away and are soon forgotten.I came across a willow warblers nest in the Trough of Bowland not 20yds from the road and on two morning sessions managed to capture a few images of these busy birds as they fed their young,watched for danger and removed the fecal sac's of their young.I've posted a few images of the comings and goings of these charming birds below for your enjoyment.I HOPE THE WEATHER IMPROVES SOON AS A LOT OF BIRDS MUST BE STRUGGILING TO FLEDGE THEIR YOUNG IN THESE CONDITIONS.

Back to the Trough.

Over the last few weeks on my travels to the Trough of Bowland I've managed to to see lapwing and oystercatcher sat on nests next to the road,included in the images is a common sandpiper's nest with 2 eggs that I found as it walked back to it's nest as Isat in a hide taking photographs of a willow warbler feeding young at it's nest.The willow warbler will be in another post soon.Two images or redshank and one of a commom sandpiper conclude the images for this post.hope you enjoy.

WATER VOLES.

Frustrating times this spring as I visited the local colony of water voles.I have to visit early mornings because the colony is so close to human habitation and as the light this spring has been very poor visiting at 5.30am to 7.00 am wasn't ideal to photograph the voles.Timing my visits a little later in the month created different problems as the vegetation has grown alot higher and the voles are harder to see,and with the steep sides of the dyke it's nearly impossible to capture a decent image of the vole.In a perfect world I would love to spend a lot more time with these wonderful mammals getting close to the water [if not in it] taking close up photographs of these rare animals.THE WELFARE AND PRESERVATION of these voles takes priority over any photograph that I would like to take and I feel privaledged just to see the voles at close quartes.I will leave them in peace checking on them from time to time.I've posted a few images below for your enjoyment.P S The voles seem to be thriving as I saw 8 to 10 individuals on one visit FINGERS CROSSED.

Starlings in the Garden.

I've been in the garden getting used to my new hide,and its amazing just how close you can get to the birds and how relaxed  they are[I can now take it out in the real world with confidence].I took a few images of Starlings for practice and the first rule I learnt was to make sure that you are comfortable in the hide as it makes it that much easier to capture your images.I have posted a few of my images below for your enjoyment.