Normal service is resumed on the blog again and today has been a lot of fun so far. As well as Blackcaps of both sexes in the garden, we have had Goldfinches on the feeders and a really nice Great Tit, oh……. and a couple of Blue Tits as well.  I made a sort of new years resolution to go out and look about a bit more rather than trying to photograph the garden birds all the time and that’s what I have been doing this afternoon.  My first little trip took me to the River Clyst, I have a nice little area that was productive at the beginning of Autumn with Greenshank, Curlew and Black Tailed Godwits  very close. Mysteriously, there was not a single bird to be seen today (except the 3 Black Swans). So, home for a bit of a snack and then out to look for Dipper on the River Teign.  This was very fruitful, not necessarily good for photos today, but I saw three different dipper in a relatively small stretch of the river, so a bit of planning and good camouflage will get me some good shots again if I have the patience, and I usually have! Also seen was a female Gossander, I have seen them before on this stretch of river, a bit of patience again  and luck as well will reward me I am sure.  I had a very unhappy encounter with yet another nasty dog today, and and an equally nasty owner.  I am of the opinion that one should be able to walk the banks of a river on a public footpath without being growled at by an aggressive animal.I believe that I am correct in this assumption?  Further, I don’t expect to be abused by the owner of the scabby animal when I ask him to keep it under control. Apparently, according to my wife, “It’s the way I react that causes the problems”.  Note to self…… when you think you are about to be bitten by an angry dog, smile politely and say hello………… right!

It’s not all that usual to have male Chaffinch in the garden for some obscure reason but this winter we have had a few passing through, particularly after the bad weather during December when they have enjoyed the extra food that I have been offering. This one posed really nicely today and as you can see, we still have a few cotoneaster berries remaining. Chaffinch are a common species in the UK, (I say this for my thousands of visitors to the blog from other parts of the world). I always enjoy seeing the resident birds of North America when I am there, most that I see are very common but to me always interesting.  This is certainly the case in reverse  with this Chaffinch.  If you are looking at the blog from North America here is a bird that you would certainly enjoy seeing.  The one pictured is in winter plumage, in the summer they are much more brightly  coloured.  with the rusty red taking on a much brighter “true red” colouration. Next is a nice Blue Tit a bird that is very common and well known to just about everyone in the UK and probably Europe where they are equally as common.

When it was really cold around Christmas and the beginning of the year, the berry laden bushes provided a lot of food to the local birdlife. We have Blackcap Warblers here with us at the moment and even they were feeding on the cotoneaster berries as you can see.