Last week we had a brilliant time at a holiday cottage in the very small and secluded hamlet of Cotterdale that we previously visited last autumn. This time we stayed in the cottage next door to our earlier visit and found it to be very homely and comfortable but our main reason for returning was to see the amazing wildlife in the area which I will be sharing with you over the next few posts.
The garden was full of birds and the feeders were nearly constantly occupied by Chaffinches, Blue, Great and Coal tits. Also regularly visiting were Siskins, the majority of which seemed to be female although one or two males were seen and it was great to see Siskins on a flowering shrub eating new shoots and flowers.
Another common species that appeared daily were Goldfinches and I managed to get one or two decent images with clean backgrounds. Most of the garden shots were taken from the porch of the cottage where the birds could readily see me but didn't seem to worry about my presence and more importantly I could shelter from the showers that occasionally came over.
One of the highlights of the week for me was the chance to see and photograph the Spotted Flycatchers that frequented the area. Initially only one bird was seen but by the end of the week up to 4 birds were present which ties in with their reputation of being one of the later migrants to return from Africa usually in the middle of May. Around here Spotted Flycatchers are increasingly hard to see as their numbers are in sharp decline and now they are normally only seen as they pass through on migration which is sad as they used to be common as recently as 30 years or so ago. Although not especially striking being mainly various shades of brown and not having an amazing song their appearance flying from exposed perches to catch insects in the air and returning to perch is hypnotising to observe and it was great to be so close to them.
No comments:
Post a Comment