Today has been glorious and sunny, an ideal one for birdwatching and photography. We went to the River Teign at Stepps Bridge and from the bridge this Goldcrest almost stopped still long enough to have his/her photograph taken. A pair were very active and vocal although you could hardly hear the song and call because it is so high pitched. Its a shame I didnt get a good shot of the head because the "goldcrest" is very pretty and I have really struggled to get a good shot of this species! Butterflies were on the wing and we observed. Orange Tip, Speckled Wood, Brimstone and Red Admiral.
The garden has really come to life in the last day or so.
Today we have had Great Tits bathing in the wildlife pond and Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Dunock,and a noisy pair of Herring Gulls on the roof as well as Greenfinch, Wood Pigeon and Collared Doves. A pair of Buzzards were seen circling over head not too far away. The Blackbird Pair seem to have newly fledged youngsters.  I have not seen them yet but they can be heard in the Cotoneaster Bush and the parents come and go constantly  with food. I am hoping that they do not become the first cat casualties of the year. 

The first Brindled Hoverfly of the year was around the wildlife pond, (now full of tadpoles). This is 3 weeks earlier than the first record of this species last year on May 10th. You can read about that on the post for that day last year here . When you get there, click on the thumbnail pictures to see larger images, then use the back button on your browser to get you back here.
All in all, things are livening up everywhere and with the Apple Tree in full blossom and the Clematis coming in to bloom its a nice time of the year to be in the garden.

While I think about, it if you have any trouble seeing the whole image as posted here on the Blog, this is due to a resolution problem, I will try to post pictures in a smaller format in future. But to see  any picture on my blog properly,  as well as all my images,  just double click in the middle of the image and you will be immediately transferred to my Flickr Gallery. This is where all my pictures are stored on-line. Once there you can peruse the gallery and leave comments on any of the pictures if you feel the need to make a comment. Much less long winded than it is here on the blog to comment. Try it by clicking on the Goldcrest above.