Electric Blue

A sunny day with lots to do. Too good to waste all of it indoors, I had a quickish walk along the canal and through the meadows at lunchtime. I could hear a Bullfinch calling but couldn't find it, unlike this Dunnock who was making his presence VERY obvious.

Lots of Siskin had moved into the alders, even the females looking especially bright in the sunlight

while the males shone like beacons

Crossing the meadows I found a bird I hoped to get close to perched as it sometimes does high up on the power cables of all places

Briefly it dropped down to the bushes below but flew off within a couple of seconds allowing me just one distant shot.

A little further on I refound her while walking into the low sun, not ideal for birdwatching or photography, it always amazes me how even these stunning colours are rendered completely useless both to the eye and to the camera in such conditions

I managed to skirt round and catch her from the other side but she was off to the river before I got anywhere close

Before I knew it it was time to get back, but not before I caught these Greylags heading towards the main water with what is definitely NOT a leucistic Ross's Goose!