The First Six Months...A Thank You!

June has been my most prolific month for posting since this blog began back in January, thanks mainly to the many new arrivals that this month has to offer.

When I started this blog, I did wonder if I would be able to do it justice with regular postings...

My main concern was finding things to talk about, but I needn't have worried...Nature throws up something new and exciting every day.

I've also discovered something new about myself since starting this blog...I can't half ramble on!

Apologies for that then, but amongst all the rambling, I hope I've provided at least a few points of interest and better still I hope I've managed to inspire some into taking a closer look at the wildlife that surrounds them...For me this is the most important thing.

The proudest point in my photographic 'career' came last year and it was having my work published in a children's bird book...The thought that seeing my pictures (and those of some much better photographers than myself) might inspire some young child to develop a life-long love of nature is something that fills me with great happiness.

That really is the point of this blog really...To do my little bit in regards to making people aware of nature and the importance of conservation.

So here we are now, 6 months down the line and still going strong and I must say I've really enjoyed doing this...It's been good fun mainly and from messages I've received and comments posted I'm happy that some of you enjoy it too!

I'd just like to say a huge thank you to everybody who has taken the time to read the blog, look at the pictures and post comments...It means a lot to know that somebody is out there!

Finally, the last images from June and the last from Sundays visit to Pennington Flash.

I thought it was only fitting to end the month with more of what has been the theme of the month...New life!

Mallard Ducklings to be precise...

Juvenile Pied Wagtail

Another Highlight from Sunday's visit to Pennington Flash was the sight of 4 juvenile Pied Wagtails who were busy feeding at the edge of the main Flash...

Lapwings

After Saturday nights Golden Plover, Sunday brought another encounter with a member of the Plover family...The Lapwing.

Pennington Flash was the venue for Sunday mornings birding and the Flash is always a good place to spot these wonderful birds.
I've told you in the past about the sad decline of UK Lapwings especially in their once familiar farmland habitat, but that was only half the story...
Lapwings are equally at home in farmers fields, high moorland, coastal estuary's and large inland bodies of water.
Pennington Flash is the latter and offers a rich variety of habitat which is perfectly suited to these birds.

It's always a lovely sight to see Lapwings gathering over the Flash, more often than not mobbing other birds or bullying them away from prime feeding spots.
The Lapwing is also know as the Peewit in reference to it's distinct call and feeds mainly on worms and insects.
The soft vegetation around the edges of the Flash are perfect hunting grounds for these fine looking birds.

There are good numbers of juvenile Lapwing scattered around Penny at the moment which is very promising.
The young are fairly easy to identify due to their paler colour and much less pronounced crest...

Lapwings are also one of the easiest birds to distinguish in flight, due to their rounded wing pattern which has a very distinctive black and white colouration...

One of the things that makes the Lapwing a firm favourite of mine is quite simply...They are just such beautifully photogenic birds!

Pennington Flash

I've done a lot of driving in the last week in my quest to photograph wildlife and to be perfectly honest, the long drives and early starts began to take there toll on me, so Thursday and Friday I decided to slow things down a bit and I spent two days in and around the hides at Pennington Flash.

There is something very relaxing about being able to sit in a hide in relative comfort, alone with your thoughts, watching birds go about their business.

In fact sometimes you can get so lost in your thoughts that you forget to fire the shutter of your camera and miss something good!

The main birds of note at Penny over the last couple of days were Terns...Plenty of Common Tern which I had very distant views of and a single Artic Tern which unfortunately I didn't see at all.

Thursday was a rather dull rainy day, but was brightened by close views of a pair of Gadwall and one of my favourite waders the Oystercatcher...

Friday was a glorious day and after an hour or so spent in Horrock's Hide, I was rewarded with some fantastic views of another wader, the Redshank...

There were all the usual suspects at the Bunting Hide, but the highlight for me was seeing the very elusive Stock Dove at relatively close quarters...

The bright sunshine had brought out large numbers of Butterflies all over Penny, including this beautiful Orange Tip that made an all too brief stop on a Dandelion...

A perfect Spring day was capped by the glorious sight of newborn birds following their proud parents all over the Flash.

However some couldn't resist leaving the safety of the family group for a few moments to explore their new world...

Night Fever...

My comedy image of the week was provided by this Black-Headed Gull, who seemed to fancy himself as the next John Travolta...

Mr John Travolta

Black-Headed Gull

Pennington Flash

Somebody must of forgot to tell Pennington Flash about 'the big thaw'!
On my first visit of 2010 it wasn't exactly a winter wonderland but the paths were treacherous...Thick with ice and I feared for myself and my equipment.

On my arrival, a great deal of the Flash was frozen and the Wildfowl were close to the embankment eager for feed.

It was still quite early and a strong cold wind was blowing...If he could talk this Coot might of been able to tell you more about it!

After a short bread chucking session I headed off towards Horrocks Hide where I was treated to the glorious sight of a Kingfisher in perfect light on a branch only a few yards away from me.
I slowly and quietly aimed my camera and in the split second it took to focus, a loud cry of "Kingfisher" went up and the bird was flushed by two buffoons bounding towards it!
Words failed me, but I think the look I gave them probably said it all!

Anyway, there were quite a few Bullfinch about as usual...

To be honest, I don't know of a better spot in the whole country for close up views of these beautifully coloured little creatures although the light wasn't brilliant and I had to shoot at ISO 1000 and still only managed 1/50 s!

After a couple of hours mooching, I headed back towards the car park and the main Flash, where thankfully the ice had started to melt a little, but perhaps not quite quick enough for all...