Rye Harbour National Nature Reserve

Spring is on the way and there are a few signs now of fresh plant life.  The sea kale has started sprouting and the grass is looking a little greener. But we still have a way to go. The ground for the new discovery centre is being prepared with boarding going up around old Lime Kiln Cottage. A small digger has been deposited there. I’m sat in Denny Hide overlooking Quarry with Flat Beach and Wader Pool in the distance. I stopped at the hide overlooking the wader pool on my way round here but there was nothing in it. So I am settled in the Denny listening to the noisy black headed gulls resplendent in their breeding plumage and watching them posture and court. It’s much noisier than of recent months. Some of the avocets are in spending time in the mud pools to the left of Denny and there has been reports of terns here but I haven’t seen any. I have seen gadwall, teal, little grebe, cormorant (or shag!), teal, lesser and greater black backed gull, oyster catcher and redshank.  There has been light rain a few times but only once heavy enough to make a sound on the roof of the hide. I think I can hear meadowpipits or skylarks in the grassy areas beyond the hide. 

RPS residential nature weekend, Flatford Mill, Dedham

Arrived last night to a stunning location on thrived Stour. The evening spent arriving and sorting kit and room then off to evening meal at 7. Good tea of Spanish pork and rice with an equally home made black currant bake well tart which was lovely. There then was the usual meeting with health and safety, a presentation of some of the nature to be found around the field centre although it took an hour to link the computer to the projector.  This went to 10 pm then off to bed for a 6am start.
25*c in my room so didn't sleep well even with the fan I brought on and the window open. The water that fed the waterwheel is quite clearly heard and that was lovely.
Today we had possibly the worst breakfast I had ever had. The usual cereal , prunes and grapefruit was served followed by whatever was ticked on the list last night. The only things on the list to tick were veg sausage, sausage, hash brown and tomato. Bacon was served which was not in the list and mushroom was not served which was on the list! There were no eggs or beans. There was half a rasher of bacon left by the time the dish got to me. Stopped eating bread a while ago and only sandwiches available for packed lunch sit hats a non starter, got 3 pieces of fruit and a yogurt instead.
So may be going to the Stour estuary today or a Heath depending on wind.

Sony nfc review

26 5 2016 (English, May) I have a Sony 7s and Sony experia compact 1. I have tried a multitude of times to send images from my camera to my phone to post on social media.  It works 5% of the time failing more times than a little. It's garbage. Spend your money on something that works.

Water meadow, Nottingham

Saw heron, teals, two greylag geese and a couple of rats-i think, swimming,  yesterday. Also, a fleeting glimpse of the elusive kingfisher.  Ubiquitous moorhen also present and a couple of brown coloured butterflies.

Thursday 28th May, 2015, Peasholm Park, Scarborough and the sea front. In Peasholm park we found this little bird, I am not sure what it is. It would be known, in the birding world as a LBJ-a little brown jobby! I am thinking chifchaf or garden warbler. It was lovely to be there. The trees up the ravine are enormous with a fantastic canopy and are cathedral like. In addition to this we spotted a greater spotted woodpecker chick.

Week commencing 25/5/15 we had a fantastic birding week. On Tuesday 26th May we went to Washington WWT and had a great time! There were a number of rarer birds there as part of their conservation effort but there was also the common garden birds as shown here. These birds were baited at a bird table filled with various foods. It even included a squirrel proof cage which wasn't squirrel proof at all! I've never seen so many bullfinches in my life, certainly not as many in one place. There were at least 4 who came to feed including one female. 

 These pictures are taken with a 500mm mirror lens and even though they were quite close, these are still cropped, but they are well focussed with a lot of detail in the feather even at ISO 5000 in most cases. The highlight was the jay-a very cautious bird, not seen at close quarters at all, and the greater spotted woodpecker that managed to find the fat and peanuts stuffed in the tree bark. You can tell its a mirror lens because the bokeh (the out of focus circular blurry bit behind the birds) is caused by the mirror lens.

 I also like the picture of the magpie that had found a food stash in the tree. You can clearly see the blue iridescence on its wings beneath its white feathers. Its a stunning bird close up.

Avocets are always a joy to see. Such a smart and delicate bird but one with a temper! They often see off birds feeding close to where they are.