Starling Roost, Gretna.

Most peoples idea of a good show is seeing Take That in concert but i prefer a proper show with real performers. The huge Starling roost near Gretna is quite simply mind blowing.

Sparrowhawk

Click on photo to see the Sparrowhawk better.

Peregrine trying it on.

Pale Juvenile Buzzard, Idle Washes, N Notts

Caerlaverock, Late November

A few hours spent watching the geese and ducks. A very large flock of Teal on the flooded fields kept me transfixed the whole afternoon.

Stranded Sheep

Yesterdays monsoon rain created havoc in the low lying valleys. These sheep were marooned on the last bit of their grass field.

Green-winged Teal

1st winter Teal 'thing'

I came across this 1st winter Green-winged Teal type thing while sifting through the large flock of Teal. Unfortunately the Teal were extremely distant and not helped by the fact that i had left my zoom eye piece in the car. This bird still had some juvenile Scaps and flank feathers but to my eyes the white vertical stripe just didn't look strong enough. It was possible that a few juv feathers were still concealing some of the white but i wasn't convined it would get much thicker. Closer views and maybe another 2 weeks would have helped.

Starlings

This very large flock of Starlings were feeding in a stubble field just before they left for their roost near the A74. Torrential rain and zero light as normal.