Redwing under the feeders

There are plenty of Redwing and Fieldfare showing in the fields around Stithians southern cut - off at the moment which probably accounts for the lack of shows from the pair of local Sparrowhawk at the feeders but today was the first time that I have seen the Redwing foraging under the feeder assembly as opposed to fly-byes, Other birds snapped were several male and female Reed Bunting, A pair of Great Spotted Woodpecker,  A dozen or so feisty Chaffinch and a couple of pairs of Blackbird,  Out on the water was quite today but for a single Chiffchaff  foraging amid semi submerged margin foliage and the Male Mandarin did put in a brief show late afternoon but being infamous for being quite skitty as he was,  he took offence at the sound of my shutter and departed leaving me with a final flight shot.

Redwing & Starling Portraits

The local fields at the west end of Ashton  on the A394 were busy with flocks of Redwing numbering into the hundreds today,  All were busy predating on an abundance of worms close to the surface due to the levels of recent rain,  They were a bit skitty and all left when I first arrived armed with a new 2x Nikon Teleconverter but given time when they returned I was able to work close enough for several full frame portraits,  I also completed a few portraits of a squadron of raiding Starlings that just had to get part of the action in the same field.

New Subjects & Old

Todays blog is a mix of new and old subjects that I have worked on at Stithians southern cut-off hide,  New to me at this location today were :
                                                    A Meadow Pipit taking a bath.

                                               A Reed Bunting feeding on grass seeds.

                                         A lonesome Coot that looked a little lost

                               Plus old favourites that crop up on a regular basis starting with a foraging Wren

A Redwing in from the fields for a drink

At 400m a Grey Heron predating on a large frog that it had pierced right through its middle and had quite a bit of trouble getting it off his bill and at its end the frog made quite a lump in the Heron's throat   but he didn't look very sorry,