Winter Wonderland Wirral

A bit cloudy and dark out when I went taking pictures today but pleased to see a greenfinch at long last. A buzzard settled on a branch but a bit too far away for good focus. Nice stubble in the snow though and everyone could have played guess the raptor, never mind!

Innocent but Tracked

Lovely blackbird tracks on the patio ..... he only takes a bit of fat from the feeder not like the squirrels.

Dunnock on Wood

Dunnock posing on the woodpile before the snow set in. About 3 inches of snow yesterday. Slippery underfoot. Some folk sledging locally later on in the day.

Then on the nuts and seeds .. a versatile little feeder.

Crime Scene Investigation Evidence

The pristine covering of snow in the garden was interrupted with criss-cross tracks this morning. Oh yes ... evidence that those pesky grey squirrels had been at that peanut feeder again!

Snow in the Tropics

It is amazing... snow here, in this part of Britain where mildness plays a major part in keeping snow away. The local folk get pretty excited when a light dusting happens here. Wandered around Wirral to get a flavour of what was out and about. This is what I saw: curlew in a field, grey wagtail on the kerb, bar-tailed godwits and shelducks on the mudflats.

Stop the Pigeon

A wood pigeon eyeing up bird food last January, just a few days before the RSPB Garden Birdwatch. This year we have fat, meal worms, nuts and seeds being offered in several places around the garden and can firmly say that ...... 'the greater the number of feeding stations the greater the number of birds' ...seems to be  true in our garden. Squirrels are current a great nuisance.They completely annihilated the peanuts a few days ago. So it's not really stop the pigeon, it is stop those squirrels!  :(

Scary Fairies in Delamere

During my photo sort the other day I found this picture and remember a fabulous day in 2012, when the sun was shining on the girlies, for Sarah's hen event. We decided to clamber up trees at the Go-Ape Centre in Delamere Forest. Fun, fun, fun. It was so amazing to look down on the tree canopy. The recent addition of National Geographic had an article about scientists clambering up Sequoias ..... now there's a challenge!
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/12/sequoias/nichols-photography#/end-slide.jpg

Crab for Lunch

In the summer watched this herring gull for ages ... it still had not eaten the crab by the time I left. Maybe it was just having a little game? Albert Dock Liverpool

Hockenhall Platts

Lovely stroll around Hockenhall Platts at the weekend. The Otters were hiding and it wasn't raining. Saw plenty of woodland  and farmland birds including a bullfinch, which we don't see around our part of the county.  It flew off before I could snap it!

Blackcap

Great news. On my day off I decided to do a spot of bird watching in my garden and discovered that we have a resident blackcap male. Now will get looking for the female. We seem to have had a pair nesting every year for the past 3 years. The BTO are currently undertaking a blackcap survey nationally, so will add my data and feel happy that a little bit of info may help to go a long way :)

http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/gbw/about/background/projects/garden_blackcap_survey

Robin's Nest

Early in 2012 we spied on a robin's nest built in a manure bag that had fallen over by our front door. After several days of filming the chicks went missing, hopefully, fledged. Plenty of wing expansions the previous day so maybe they did ...or worse were grabbed by a cat in the night?

Red Squirrel

Probably, my favourite British animal would have to be the Red Squirrel. Spotted this gorgeous one on a trip to the Eden Valley. At present we are over-run with greys in our garden, just wish these little buddies would move in instead!

My Garden Birds

Finally sorted images of birds I have photographed in my garden and beyond ...

Check out on Flikr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/powerflower1pix/sets/72157626870566808/

Bird Sense

Fantastic new book out by Prof Tim Birkhead.  Interesting facts .... a good read.
Lucky enough to be taught by him briefly at at the University of Sheffield.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bird-Sense-What-Its-Like/dp/140883054X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357981096&sr=1-1#_

Trapped Leaves

During the autumn sweep up in the garden I discovered some leaves lodged in one of our patio chairs. They didn't really expect to end up there, did they? What a wonderful little place to sit for a while?

Sunset Scene

Majestic view of the world through at sunset.

Tawny Owl

It's pretty cold today .. rumour has it that snow is on the way. So here I am snuggled up sorting out some wildlife and allotment photos from the past.

Love this young Tawny Owl I spotted in the Eden Valley. Sat and watched it for an hour. It just opened one eye every so often. Made my year! Interestingly, heard one near our garden earlier on in the year... suburbia!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/powerflower1pix/8376248740/in/photostream

Past Winter Weather

Images I took on Boxing Day 2010. Very icy. Notably waders huddling on the ice to keep warm. Not like the mild weather we are having this Winter.

Summer Memories

Poppy our garden

                                                                   Bumble bee our garden

more bees

a beauty

                                                         Lapwings near RSPB Burton Mere

                                                          On the beach - Wirral coast
Just to prove that some fauna and flora did not drown this summer! Lovely the sun was out too!
Enjoy and think forward to Spring ... not long now honest!