Looks like a beautiful sunny warm morning on Axe Cliff- It was FREEZING though, even worse than Beer Head yesterday I reckon.Later in the day another text from Gav had me popping down to Colyford Common to look at a Yellow Wagtail, a stunning summer plumaged male (obviously). I can't recall ever seeing a spring bird on the ground before. They really are very yellow indeed! We had good scope views but unfortunately the bird remained too distant to digiscope. You may have guessed that this didn't stop us both having a stab at it, with interestingly ambiguous results, on my part at least.
Yellow Wagtail!?
Dandelion!?Yet another gorgeous male today was this Roebuck, which I photographed from in the car. He's looking a bit scruffy not having his summer coat on yet.
I also stumbled upon these two very contrasting plants on my travels today:
Giant Horsetails - look like something from another planet! Amazingly Horsetails virtually identical to those found today are found in the fossil record as long ago as the Carboniferous Period (c.300Ma) Whatever, they ain't very attractive.
These Cowslips are though, very much so. They are genuine wild ones too.(i.e. on chalk grassland NOT a motorway verge)
2 comments:
Ahhh wagtails.. Our voyage to Alaska was the only time we've ever caught a glimpse of them. Never seen them on the contiguous states. Their whine is extra high pitched so we knew they were near, but no photos... Next time!
*I Donated To Cornell Ornithology!*
http://www.opticsplanet.net/cornell-lab-of-ornithology.html
Sounds like they're even more difficult to see in the United States. I didn't know that they bred in Alaska... Now I do! Thanks for commenting :-)
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