My Sunday Photo... The Greater Spotted Woodpecker

The weather has taken a dip during this last week, which has probably come as a sharp shock to all the wild birds who have been preparing to rear their young. 

I've seen many birds visiting our bird boxes and fear that if any of them have produced eggs already then they may well be an added difficulties in rearing their young.

With this in mind, I've made sure that all the feeders and various food have been replenished daily.

This handsome chap (Greater Spotted Woodpecker) is a frequent visitor to the peanut feeder, as well as the suet and mealworm coconut.

 The great spotted woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the neck or head.

It was very kind of him to unfold his wings in order to show you his impressive plumage.

I'm linking up once again to Photalife with My Sunday Photo.

Have a great weekend and thanks for your visit.

My Sunday Photo... Sparrowhawk

We have had an amazing amount and variety of wildlife visiting us during this past week, as this wintery blast clings unrelentingly. 

Day four of an Arctic wind whips through like a freight train.

The bird feeders and bird bath need daily attention and are definitely saving little feathered lives.

But with all of this activity there's a witness who is also hungry!

The Sparrowhawk

 He usually is extremely swift, swooping in on his unexpected prey... with amazing aerobic flight stunts.

Sometimes, all you see is a quick flash of grey as he zooms past on his mission... gliding just a few feet off the ground. 

The silent killer.

He's always aware of any movement especially when I grab my camera. 

Those piercing eyes miss nothing!

I desperately wanted him to turn around to show his plumage, but he just wasn't wanting to play. 

He had other more pressing things on his mind.

Thankfully, I haven't actually witnessed a kill... only the debris of scattered feathers.

I know he will be a regular visitor with such an amount of prey located in one area.

Nope still not turning around. 

He's like an owl with his swivelling head turning at least 110 degrees.

It's so unusual to have him stay for more than a few minutes.... but then off he goes towards the woods, in pursuit of more prey. 

Hopefully he'll be successful there.

... and for anyone who isn't in to birds or needing a boost of colour...

Here's some very brave crocus.

I'm off to join in My Sunday Photo linkup with Photalife.

Have a great Sunday and stay cosy if the Mini beast from the east has returned to your place.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you again soon.

My Sunday Photo... The Greater Spotted Woodpecker

With spring on it's way (hopefully) the sound of local woodpeckers reverberats all around our garden and nearby woods. 

It really is an incredible sound!

Here's on enjoying the peanuts from one of my feeders.

About blackbird-sized and striking black-and-white. 

It has a very distinctive bouncing flight and spends most of its time clinging to tree trunks and branches, often trying to hide on the side away from the observer. 

Its presence is often announced by its loud call or by its distinctive spring 'drumming' display. 

The male has a distinctive red patch on the back of the head and young birds have a red crown.

Great spotted woodpeckers can be seen in woodlands, especially with mature broad-leaved trees, although mature conifers will support them. 
They can also be found in parks and large gardens. 
They will come to peanut feeders and bird tables. 
Not found in the far North of Scotland, although we have four woodpeckers visiting us. 
Only a handful of pairs nest in Ireland, but numbers are increasing. 
Common in England and Wales.

The sound of the woodpecker

(courtesy of James Taft Published on Jul 6, 2008)

I'm linking up as usual with My Sunday Photo over at Photalife.com

I hope you have a wonderful weekend

Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you again soon.

My Sunday Photo.... Guests Pop In

Autumn has well and truly arrived.

And so did an unexpected guest.

I walked into our garage only to find this little wren. 

He had nipped in whilst the garage door was open and had accidentally been shut in.

Also other visitors arrived... these two deer were having a tasty treat munching away in the afternoon sun.

I still have to stand and stare when I see such sights.
I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing nature up so close.

I'd often wondered how the deer would react if they came in contact with the resident fox.
Well, I actually got the answer because I witnessed a confrontation.
The deer charged towards the fox, chasing him off and soon had the field all to himself.
It was like watching our own personal wildlife programme.
Such a privilege.

As usual I'm linking up with My Sunday Photo over at Photalife.com
If you'd like to see lots more photos then follow the link above.

Have a great day and thanks for adding to my visitors this weekend.

I hope to see you again soon.

Blue Tit... PPF & Sunday Sketches

Yay, it's the weekend once again. 

One more week nearer to Spring, although when I look out of the window today, I can see lot's of spring-like images out there. 

After completing a successful RSPB Garden Bird Count last weekend, I decided that I'd add another bird to my current trend of painting the visiting birds in my garden.
(I'm thinking of painting a collection of six birds, so just let me know if there's any particular bird that you think should make the six)

I decided that I'd paint one of the UK's most popular birds... 'The Blue Tit'

Here's are a few photo's of the process

We have an amazing amount of these little cute birds visiting us. 

We've also recently stuck a feeder onto our kitchen window and they are now coming to take the peanuts from it. 

Oblivious to us standing at the kitchen sink!
Not that I want to spend much time in the kitchen sink.

I'll try and get a photo at some stage.

With thick fog outside there was nothing for it, but to enjoy finishing my painting yesterday.

Here's the top 10 results of my own personal count thanks to the RSPB's feedback.

I was pleased because I actually counted 15 different species in that one hour of the count.

Oh yes, and if you would like to see my finish painting of the Firecrest from last week... click here

Okay the sun is shining this morning so I'm off to enjoy the outdoors. 

I'm linking up with Paint Party Friday
and Alexandra's Sunday Sketches

If you'd like to see some amazing artists from around the world, why not click on the above and enjoy some fantastic art and inspiration.

Have a wonderful weekend whatever you get up to.

Thanks for visiting.

Bye for now

Thistle and Robin... PPF

Welcome to 2017

I'm hoping that this year my art can go up a gear... or at least get out of first gear.

I have lots of ideas, half hatched plans and masses of enthusiasm. 

I just need to prioritise now.

I started off this week painting a thistle. 

I used Windsor & Newton Cotman 111 round brushes (no 3 and no 5)

Why these particular brushes you ask? Because basically my daughter left them behind when she left after the holidays. 

I couldn't resist trying them out, but don't worry I've sent her new replacements. 

Something tells me she came off rather well in this transaction.

Brand new brushes for old ones... but I'm pleased because they worked beautifully.

For those who like to know details...

I used my Kuretake: Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour paints on Daler Rowney Aquafine smooth A4 Hot pressed paper (300g/m2) 

I'm pleased with certain aspects of this painting, but it was also yet again a learning curve. 

I have so many learning curves that it feels like once again I'm in a complete spin. 

I've decided to go larger and have another go at painting it.

I think that I should keep to one theme instead of flitting like the proverbial blue * fly. 

That way I hope that I might actually develop a style.

I'm linking up for the first time this year with the Paint Party Friday link. Click here

Happy New Year Eva and Kristin and thanks for hosting your fantastic inspirational link up once again.

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I'd just like to add that I've had some success with my new camera zoom lens. 

As regular readers of my blog will know, I've been trying to capture the image of my camera shy robin for quite some time.

But at last I managed it...

How cute is he? 

I was doing a little tidying in the garden and he was very interested in what I was doing out there, especially as the ground was frozen solid.

As soon as I moved away, he hopped down into the dried leaves to check out what I'd unearthed.

I'm so happy with these photos, but as you can probably imagine I've got about 150 others of my new little feathered friend. 

Lovely to see you here once again and I hope to see you again soon.

Have a wonderful weekend

An Uninvited Guest Arrives

My sister started to jump up and down, gesticulating wildly as she ran out into the garden this morning. She was virtually squealing as she ran down to the pond.

I'm glad to say that this isn't her usual behaviour... but she'd noticed a heron had landed near her pond. After restocking her fish recently after last years greedy heron visitor, she was not prepared for this new chap to indulge in her new Koi Carp.

I was thrilled to have my camera on hand to capture him being shooed off.

I didn't take a photo of my sister flapping and running down to the pond... because basically she'd kill me if I did that.

He didn't manage to eat breakfast this time, but he did try to come back three times during the morning.

There's wire zig-zagged across the pond as a deterrent to keep him from entering which seems to be working for now, but he seems determined.

I'm linking up with Mersad's Through My Lens

 Wordless (on Tuesday at image-in-ing)

and 

Wordless Wednesday