Sheep Numbers

Over the years I have been walking various dogs on one particular field. At this time of year we always stop to watch the lambs. This year is the first time I had noticed that they are numbered. Both lambs and ewes have numbers on them. I assume this is so the shepherd knows which lamb belongs with which ewe and can make sure they are being suckled properly. Maybe I had not noticed this in the past as the sheep are a fair distance away and the numbering only became noticeable when I checked the photographs. Also the numbers are only visible on the youngest lambs as they will soon become hidden as the wool starts to grow.
It looks to me as though there are three different ages of lambs in the field judging by their sizes and the thickness of the fleece. Also there are two different breed of sheep in the same field.

Come in number three it's time for your tea.





Just before we enter the field I can look across the flat fertile farm land which makes up the coastal strip of this part of Lincolnshire and see the wind farm near Mablethorpe several miles away. I think you either love them or hate them. Personally I think they are a magnificent sight and, unlike the even bigger communication mast, you can watch them in motion - see them actually doing something.



Blue Tit Nestbox Update

The Blue Tit made its usual visit to the nestbox yesterday and did a bit more clearing out. When it had gone it looked as though there are a few bits of moss in the bottom of the box. Things are look up for the nesting season.

Little and Large

I went through to the kitchen and glanced out of the window to see if there was anything interesting in the back garden. There, feeding on the lawn was a group of birds - the usual - Collared Doves, Pigeons and Chaffinches. In the middle of the group was a Pheasant. The last time I saw a pheasant in the garden was in November last year and I was beginning to think it had ended up as part of some ones Christmas dinner. I dashed through to get the camera and hurriedly took a few hand held shots which, considering the poor lighting conditions, ended up better than I expected.

A lot of the time it was a picture of Little and Large as the Pheasant and a Chaffinch were feeding so close together. Every now and then the breeze would get under the feathers of the Pheasant.





I was hoping to get a shot of the Pheasant taking off but had to make do with this shot of it stretching a wing.



Also visiting were a couple of Long Tailed Tits. I only ever see two together these days. Before the snowy and frosty days there were always six or seven together. I hope the reduced number means that they are a mated pair and not that we lost some in the bad weather.



Yesterday I went to visit a friend and only managed a couple of photo opportunities - one of the five sailed windmill in Alford, Lincolnshire. At least it can be seen while the tree branches are bare. This is a working mill and is open to the public for much of the year.



The other stop was to photo some rain clouds over the Lincolnshire Wolds. Here there are three photos, taken freehand looking through the open car window, which have been stitched together using the demo version of Autostitch. As usual a larger version can be seen on Flickr by clicking on this picture.

Colour in Nature - Red

Looking round the garden and down the lane for things to photograph while I get used to the new camera I thought I would see what there was about for various colours. Today my choice is red.

To start with I found this Sempervivum which grows with several other small plants in a bowl.



Just outside next door's front wall was this lovely Primula.



Looking round my front garden I spotted the first Ladybird of the year warming itself in the sunshine on the Juniperus squamata Holger.



On the bird table was my local Robin. S/he is either very short sighted or I can imagine it thinking "What's the recipe today, Jim" - with apologies to Jimmy Young.



About the same time there was a Chaffinch playing Peek-a-Boo in a tree.



And finally there were more buds appearing on the Japonica.



This picture was taken a few years ago but it really does belong with red in Nature so here is a Sunset taken from my front door in 2006 with a FujiFilm Finepix S5000 which I used for several years.



Blue Tit Nestbox update

It looks as though the Blue Tit is visiting the nestbox every day. It has been seen every morning making a brief visit and seems to be tidying up in there. Yesterday it also visited in the afternoon. There are a pair of Blue Tits which spend a lot of time at the bottom of the garden in and out of the trees and bushes near the nestbox so I have high hopes for some nest building to start, maybe nearer the middle of the month.

Buds, Birds and a Body

Now I've got your attention I'll come clean. The body is made of metal and you attach lenses to it. It was time to try out the new camera body. Outdoor lighting at this time of year can be poor a lot of the time but I managed to catch the odd sunny moment.

The first thing which caught my eye was the beautiful red and yellow of the Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles) which starts to flower in March and last year continued right in to Summer.



Then the succulents which keep a bit of colour in the garden all year round as well as being drought tolerant and the first of my Grape Hyacinths to start opening.

Sempervivum , Muscari and an indoor pitcher plant



There were quite a few of my usual feathered visitors around including what is becoming a regular visit from Rooks and when they arrive bird food can vanish at an alarming rate.





There was the usual gathering of Starlings and a visit by one of the Blue Tits.



A female Blackbird obligingly posed on the fence for a few portraits.



As did this Chaffinch which sat for a while on the cables to my shed.



This was my favourite shot of the day. To me it looks as though the Chaffinch is asking, "Please may I take this Sunflower seed?"



Of course any camera session here has to include at least one shot of the hairy monster - Bobby. He was enjoying a brief few minutes of warm sunshine.



Also visiting was the usual furry monster in the shape of a Grey Squirrel. Lovely to watch their acrobatics as they leap from place to place at an amazing speed but a nuisance in the wrong place.



On the whole I was very pleased with some of the results of my practice session with my 'new body' (something I could really do with to get rid of some of the aches and pains). Brighter lighting conditions later in the year should give me better depth of field and practice at concentrating more on what is in the viewfinder should help also. The one thing I did notice was far less 'noise' in the out of focus backgrounds which makes the pictures look cleaner so I concluded that it was money well spent.

Ships and Seabirds

Yesterday I drove to Cleethorpes to visit my favourite camera shop. I had finally made my mind up to buy a new camera body, the Canon 50D, which I duly did after trying it out in the shop. Next I had to add some ballast to my wallet as it was so light by the time I left the shop I swear it would have floated away. Anyway I then decided to have a stroll along the promenade to see what was about. I had to use the old 350D as the battery with the new camera really needed charging and, of course, it was a different size to the fully charged ones I had with me.

The day was mainly sunny, a bit breezy from time to time but quite pleasant. The tide was out. It goes a long way out at Cleethorpes as it does along most of the Lincolnshire coast because of the gentle slope of the beach. There are many sand banks which can be a danger to those who do not know the area and to those who don't keep an eye out for the incoming tide as it flows very rapidly round and behind the sand banks before covering them completely.

I stayed on the prom and one of the first things I noticed was a rig at least half a mile off shore and I think it is one used for building the bases for the towers of the many wind farms which are appearing along this coast.



There were lots of large ships moored whilst waiting for high tide so they could continue along the River Humber to Hull and Goole Docks. Also there were many sea birds on the sand banks feeding on the lug worms and other sand dwelling creatures.



As you can see it was very hazy out to sea. The only vessel I actually spotted moving was a roll-on roll-off ferry which may have been going to Immingham.



Near the pier there were a few birds flying about. They were moving very quickly so it was a good job there were few other people about as I frantically swung the camera about to get a few shots of the birds in flight.

I think this is a Little Gull in Winter plumage.



This may well be a Mediterranean Gull. That was certainly the best match I could find from the RSPB site. Somebody should have told it that it was the wrong day to double its money.



I didn't have to worry about this Pelican getting away as it is carved from stone.



As I was walking back up to the road I looked down and could see a flower bed which had been cut out in the shape of an anchor. The blue is made with pansies but the plants making up the rope haven't started to flower yet. It should be a beautiful picture once the weather warms up and I will have to remember to visit Cleethorpes again later in the year. Over the years there have been some very good artistic flower arrangements.



By then I was getting anxious to get home, charge up the battery for the new camera and have a play with it so it was just a short visit this time.

Nestbox Visitor

Just a short piece of video captured yesterday morning when the Blue Tit made one of its morning visits to the nestbox.

Buds a Bursting

Looking round the garden yesterday showed more evidence of nature's awakening. I was catching up on the gossip with my neighbour when I noticed the tiny flowers, no more than 3mm across, on the Corkscrew Hazel. Although the bush has been there for a few years I had never noticed the flowers before but it had been fairly well buried behind other plants which I had removed last Autumn.

Corkscrew Hazel - catkins opening - tiny red flowers
(All photos can be seen larger by clicking on them)



Also in evidence were some flower buds on the Salix Flamingo and leaf buds just opening on a dwarf standard rose.



Finally on a close inspection in the fruit cage I could see flower buds opening on an early fruiting Blueberry bush and signs that the Blackcurrant bushes were coming to life. The Blueberry bushes are grown in large tubs of lime free compost as there is a lot of chalk in this area of Lincolnshire. I am hoping they repeat last years bumper crop.



I just hope that they are not starting too early as temperatures are expected to fall again over the coming week with forecasts of frosty nights returning.