Venus Pool - Little Grebe vs Stickleback

This ought to be a fair contest? I know Sticklebacks are small but so are Little Grebes! So, pitching a 'large as they come' Stickleback against a Little Grebe chick provides an uncertain outcome...

Setting the scene...

It's a busy life for the parents ferrying fish, from the microscopic through to medium size.

And whoever gets there first takes the spoils!

But wait a minute, this is surely too big for the little un?

Down to you...

No way? surely it's time to rethink this?

It's not going to fit is it?

Gulp... it is!

Down the hatch...

And the winner is.. the gutsy Little Grebe!

Venus Pool - Lesser Peckers!

I was hoping for the Osprey which has been hanging around the area for a while and managed to keep my eyes open checking out the nearby bushes from the memorial hide. Watching a Garden Warbler singing, I suddenly became aware of a Woodpecker dropping in close by... that looks small... crikey, small enough to be only one thing! A male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker :-)

And it was carrying food!

Imagine my surprise when this youngster flew in - another male...

They both sat there for a few seconds as the food was passed and then flew out of the back!

In the current climate, compared to Osprey, Lesser Pecker is probably the better bird!! They must be breeding nearby which is good news, probably the wood opposite the access road? Second juv in successive years too, a good omen!

Venus Pool - Green Woodpecker

Green Woodpeckers are making their presence felt now either on call or fleetingly in flight? This adult dropped in by the hide today, not that it was easy to visualise...

It was soon off but here's a record of the occasion - all 30 secs or so!

Hopping into the only real gap in vegetation...

Where's the ants then?

None here... Did I just hear a camera shutter?

I'm off ...

Wrekin - Tawny Owls

Whilst I'd only heard Tawny Owl so far this year, this is always a good time to find them with chicks and adults always likely to call? It also helps to get some pointers and a couple of birding mates (you know who you are!) helped me locate these two youngsters. We heard them calling long before actually finding them and they were a nightmare to get a clear view through the foliage. The adults were undoubtedly nearby but didn't reveal themselves!

A couple of record shots, they didn't exactly do much!

It's that 'cute' time of year, ahhhh :-)

Scotland - Black-throated Divers!!

I've been waiting nearly 10 years for these images!! Ever since my first trip to Speyside, the Black-throated Divers at Lochindorb became a must see! They are usually out in the middle (miles away) and at this time of year, the female is sitting or with young but the pair were out together in the small bay by the Lodge. I caught sight of them and screeched to a halt!

Stunning birds whichever way you look at them!

And constantly checking out for fish...

I was sat quietly in the car as they drifted even closer!

The light wasn't perfect, cluding up but I wasn't complaining too loud...

Just love the head on opportunities!

But they weren't to last as they dived and then gradually drifted away.

A couple of favourites to close on. Eye to eye contact and, droplets...

A magic moment indeed which probably wont happen again in a hurry, if ever?!!

Scotland - Redshank

Only a Redshank but given the light and a frame filling bird from the car window...

Worth a brief stop?

Scotland - Ring Ouzel

A painful Achilles tendon had scuppered any chance of walking Cairngorm this year but I was determined to have a minor wander on the lower slopes with hopes of a Ring Ouzel or two? This male was busy feeding on a grassy slope and kept me occupied for a while, trying to capture what he was eating?

Sit quiet and her he comes...

Sprinting after an 'unseen' small insect!

Gotcha!

Then a pretty one sided tug of war with a worm!

Hmm, this saves catching another 50 of those flies?

Safely down the hatch...

The Ptarmigan can wait another year...