Regular visitors to my mum’s garden are two pairs of Bullfinches. Male Bullfinches have a bright pink-red breast and cheeks, a black cap and grey wings. Females have a much duller grey-pink breast. Both sexes have a white rump that is visible in flight Bullfinches have a short, powerful-looking beak.
The Blackcap is a greyish warbler. It gets its common name from its black cap. The female’s cap is chestnut brown. Although primarily a summer visiting bird from Germany and north-east Europe. Blackcaps are increasingly spending the winter in the UK. It was unusual to see this woodland bird over water. He was catching small invertebrates from the Lilly flowers on a local pond.
Male Stonechat New Forest.
Female Stonechat New Forest.
Smaller than a Mallard the Tufted Duck is a medium-sized diving duck the male is black on the head, neck, chest and back, and white on the sides. It has a small crest and a yellow eye. In winter, numbers increase because birds are moving to the UK from Iceland and northern Europe {The female is entirely chocolate-brown, with yellow eyes }.
I decided to record my visit to Titchfield Haven Nature Reserve as a video.
At the end of the film is a Shelduck out at sea with her chicks – It is amazing watching these little birds journey in the choppy waters.
Wordless Wednesday.
A Grey Heron enjoying the opposite side of a lake where I had sat down to wait for the Red Kites to arrive.
Guinea fowls are often seen roaming the plains of Africa and picking at the ground for food. These were seen in Salisbury Plain around some farm buildings. They resemble turkeys and pheasants. They are not wild birds here in the UK.
By the early 20th Century due to persecution numbers of Red Kites’ were reduced to just a handful confined to the uplands of mid-Wales. When I was a teenager there were said to be about 25 pairs. With conservation work, their numbers started to build in the 1980’s. Today they are seen as a conservation success. The RSPB website gives the numbers in the UK of 4600 breeding pairs. I have even seen this beautiful bird over the outskirts of Southampton
In Mid Wales there are several Red Kite feeding stations We visited one while away this week.
This post is photo heavy !
wingspan: 155-180 cm Length: 60-65 cm Weight: 750-1,300 g
This Heron thought he would steal some of the Kites’ food!
Sunday morning walk through some of Southampton’s city centre’s open spaces.
Continued Reflections from my World. 