What's flying near you?

The crows are back in their nest in the top at the oak tree and the squirrels are trying to pinch their eggs.
Its great fun watching them as the crow tries to attack the squirrel as its runs up the tree - but the squirrel knows that it only has to swing around to the other side of the trunk and the crow can't change direction fast enough to get him. I've watched the squirrel spreadeagled, motionless on the trunk and the crow flying away from the tree to another one to make the squirrel think its safe. Suddenly, in comes the crow like a black rocket, the squirrel twists around the trunk and the crow misses yet again. Squirrel runs along a branch and leaps off into another tree, hotly pursued by the crow and off they go, chasing through the trees until the crow decides he'd better go back to his partner in the nest.

Yesterday I saw willow warbler, siskins and a woodcock in the garden

Swallows and a Cuckoo.

Some reed buntings hopping around under the bird table. They have been about for a few years now but I rarely see them since I stopped feeding birds with grain on the lawn. A couple of years ago, we saw one nesting under the leaves of a bergenia. The first time I saw a male I thought it was a particularly handsome sparrow.
A barn owl was flying across a nearby field during the day.

A red kite overhead yesterday

I just saw a golden oriele flying overhead. We hear them often but they're so hard to spot in the tree tops I spend much of the summer trying to get a glimpse!

Griffon vultures!
There's a healthy population in the mountains but they rarely come out into the foothills, we see them maybe once or twice a year, but I guess the weather has been really bad for the them this last week. Six flew down the valley towards us and then found a thermal on the hill opposite - two more arrived and then some of the local kites and buzzards joined them in the thermal. They evetually went too high to be able to see anymore even with the binos. What a Sunday morning treat.

What a day - just heard a turtle dove purring, the first one for quite a few years.

Mr PP spotted a stonechat catching flies in the potager.
For someone who normally has to be dragged from his current electronics project, he is getting quite interested in outdoors and the natural world!

Lots of little ones around today. The swallows shed was very busy don't know how they don't ever crash.

We have a bird bath just outside the patio door and it was visited by a family of blue tits - I think they were though I couldn't see any blue on them.

We went for a walk along the canal and saw families of geese, coots and moorhens though the moorhens just had one chick.

Other birds in the garden today were a blackbird and warbler in the small greenhouse, 2 goldfinch drinking on the patios and sparrows everywhere. I've not seen any baby robins this year.