Returns

The blackbirds are back in the garden. After the breeding season they seemed to disappear, but this last week they have been waiting for food as I leave the house in the morning. This hen bird is the tamest of them, though I am pretty sure she isn't the Boss who was dominant in the garden earlier in the year. This one has a redder bill and she is herself bossed about by one of the males - the Boss was the boss, the males deferred to her.

Also back in the garden today was a male reed bunting. A male and a female spent the winter with us last year, a few miles from the reedbeds of Leighton Moss where they have probably bred. If you looks at my blip of a year ago, there is a male reed bunting in the snow in the garden. At that point they had already been with us for a week or two. I'm concerned for the bird that was here today, he has an injured leg and may be more vulnerable to predation by Bob's enemy, the black and white cat that has been hanging around the bird feeders.

I wasn't at work today, so in the afternoon I met up with Simon for a wander over the limestone pavements of Hutton Roof. Just like old times. I was in two minds as to whether to use a photo of limestone pavement, but the afternoon light was too drab under the cloud.