A FEW BIRD SHOTS FROM THE LAKE DISTRICT

   The last couple of weeks have been spent in the Lake District on holiday with the family and still being without my main camera and lens meant that the opportunities for bird photography were limited but I have managed a few images that I was reasonably happy with. Firstly above is a Tree Pipit in song that we came across on a walk in Borrowdale. The bird repeatedly flew up into the air before 'parachuting' back down while singing onto a prominent perch where it continued to broadcast its song to all. It was close to the path and was quite happy for people to walk past within 20 feet without moving and continuing to perform. On the same walk further down into the valley on a quiet road we saw this Pied Wagtail sitting on a dry stone wall shown below that was more than happy for me to snap away.

   Closer to the cottage we were staying in on an evening stroll I spied this recently fledged Robin perched waiting for a parent to return with more food. The amount of bird song in this wood in the evening was incredible and it was difficult to distinguish some of the more unusual calls.

   You didn't have to leave the cottage to see wildlife with a Red Squirrel visiting regularly in the early morning or later in the evening. The Coal Tit shown below actually had a nest in the stone wall of the cottage that it accessed via a small gap by the window frame and this picture shows the bird with a beak full of insects perched in a Larch tree next to the cottage. As the young got older you could hear them calling as you sat in the lounge and the parents didn't mind us watching out of the window as they came and went. One morning we noticed that the parents were no longer coming and going and looking outside realised that the young had fledged and were deep inside a hedge being fed by the now slightly scruffy looking adult birds.

   The cottage lawn was full of Daisies and Dandelions and on several occasions we saw birds feeding from the seed heads. Sometimes these were Greenfinches but more often than not the birds were Goldfinches who would approach the seed head, stand on the stem and then proceed to eat the seeds as you can see below.

   On a walk near Buttermere this Yellowhammer hopped up onto a dry stone wall and posed nicely for me before flying off with a small flock. There were also Meadow Pipits and Wheatear around but unfortunately they did not approach me close enough to photograph. It wasn't until I looked at the Yellowhammer images that I realised that the bird I pictured was missing it's main tail feathers but it certainly didn't stop it from flying freely.

   Finally this Grey Wagtail which was perched up on a Gorse bush along the small river that runs through the Newlands valley and was busy collecting flies for its fledged youngster which were in short supply in the dull and cool conditions of that day.