Before we start…… another Stonechat picture from yesterday.

I have already posted today about the Blackcaps in the garden which took up most of my morning, by that I mean that I spent the morning trying to get better photos of them. Now that winter has almost replaced autumn they are here for the season and as usual, they are starting to come regularly  to the apple pieces that I place close to the house.  The plan now is to mount the apple on a moveable, but photogenic perch that I am gradually inching, bit by bit each day and very gradually, out in to the open and in a good picturesque  place. In this way I will be able to photograph the Blackcaps with high-speed flash…. in-flight, as they fly in and out. But first, I will need to get them really used to the apple and they will need to feel safe to come and go.  It didn't help today when I realised that I have been having regular visits from my neighbours "killer" cat. I hate cats in the same way that I  hate  burglers and thieves. I hate them for the way  that they  interfere with my enjoyment,  and I hate them for killing millions of songbirds in the UK every year.  That isn't a subject that I want to enter in to  discussion about, because I have come to learn that cat owners always seem to be able to find a way of excusing their own cat as if the fact that it's theirs makes it somehow acceptable. They will always and without exception, turn a blind eye. Fair enough but I just wish they would keep them out of my garden. 

In the early afternoon I decided to trip out to Venford to look for Goosanders and Little Grebe.  I still want a good photo of a Drake Goosander and putting the time in is the only way it's going to happen. Then its just a case of sitting it out. Seems easy but it's not. Today, for the first 1 1/2 hours there wasn't a bird to be seen let alone to photograph. Then suddenly I caught sight of a Little Grebe and it was getting nearer. It didn't come close enough but moved down the shoreline where it joined up with another and now there were two. One caught a fish and there was a flurry of activity as a female Goosander and then a Cormorant flew in towards me. Almost busy now, I started to get really optimistic when one of the Grebes turned and started in my direction. Then, it all came to end when a dog walker decided to throw a stick in for his labrador right where the grebe was headed, an almost frustrating day now made complete. At least it wasn't a cat, so the morning was ruined by a cat and the afternoon by a dog…… there's a pattern emerging here and I'll let you decide what the common denominator is?   Have you guessed?  Yes…. the owners!  Some would say that there's no bad pets, just bad, selfish inconsiderate pet owners, and of course I would agree! I can't begin to count how many times my day has been ruined by dog walkers, but I'd better stop now.

 I packed up and stumbled dejectedly back to the car and back to my dog and cat free…… and oh yes, sweet smelling home.