Album Birds & Fowl from Herb Riddle

I want my mummy!

nobody@ipernity.com (Herb Riddle) — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 07:40:28 +0000

A family snapshot of our garden blackbirds all taken within the same ten minutes.
Top left: a juvenile female (I did wonder if this was the adult female -mother but...) - feeding and watching over young.
Top right: male fledgling hoping that mummy or daddy would bring it some food.
Bottom left: female fledgling hiding itself from danger and again waiting for food to come.
Bottom right: the father? – pecking berries on the fruit trees overhead but we never did see it bring any to the young.

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Our singing blackbird: www.ipernity.com/doc/1081863/50082318

A Ringed Plover at Fort William.

nobody@ipernity.com (Herb Riddle) — Sat, 20 Jun 2026 07:06:17 +0000

Herb Riddle has posted:

(Charadrius hiaticula). Seen on the shores of Loch Linnhe. (PiP)

“The Ringed Plover is a small, dumpy, short-legged wading bird. It's brownish grey above and whitish below. It has an orange bill, tipped with black, orange legs and a black-and-white pattern on its head and breast. In flight, it shows a broad, white wing-stripe. They mostly breed on beaches around the coast, but they have also now begun breeding inland in sand and gravel pits and former industrial sites. Many UK birds live here all year round, but birds from Europe winter in Britain, and birds from Greenland and Canada pass through on migration.” RSPB

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The heron at the wall

nobody@ipernity.com (Herb Riddle) — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 07:49:39 +0000

Herb Riddle has posted:

A walk around the boating lake of my local Alexandra Park always brings rewards. Here we see one of the two grey herons that dominate the large pond that is (or maybe was) stocked with fish for the fishermen that come fishing on here. PiP

Enjoy the day.

Killer instinct

nobody@ipernity.com (Herb Riddle) — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 07:00:19 +0000

Herb Riddle has posted:

This Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) was seen in my garden a couple of days back after just having finished its meal of another of our small garden birds which I suspect was a baby sparrow. That’s how it goes in nature; these birds must live and feed their young too!

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Enjoy the day

“Baby its cold outside”

nobody@ipernity.com (Herb Riddle) — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 07:24:45 +0000

Herb Riddle has posted:

A local robin that came down from a tree to say hello on my snow walk. It was so cold (-6C) that like all robins it has fluffed its feathers up as much as possible to retain body heat underneath. It may have hoped that I had some food for it but alas only a camera to hand.

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A robin pays tribute

nobody@ipernity.com (Herb Riddle) — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 09:12:20 +0000

Herb Riddle has posted:

The Dovestones reservoir area has quite a lot of these memorial benches. This one is remembering Kate & James who ran together around here. I think they would have enjoyed the company of this little robin. See Pip

Have a great day.

A robin pays tribute

nobody@ipernity.com (Herb Riddle) — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 09:12:17 +0000

Herb Riddle has posted:

PiP to: The Dovestones reservoir area has quite a lot of these memorial benches. This one is remembering Kate & James who ran together around here. I think they would have enjoyed the company of this little robin.

Autumn at Dunham Massey

nobody@ipernity.com (Herb Riddle) — Sun, 26 Oct 2025 07:34:04 +0000

Herb Riddle has posted:

As we get a rare day of clearer skies we also get to see the onset of Autumn here at the country park. The Canada geese make for a moving foreground to the golds of the trees in the background.

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HWW ~ Greater spotted woodpecker.

nobody@ipernity.com (Herb Riddle) — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 07:06:13 +0000

Herb Riddle has posted:

A chance sighting of this wonderful and interesting bird whilst staying near Kirby Stephen.

The great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the neck or head. Great spotted woodpeckers chisel into trees to find food or excavate nest holes, and also drum for contact and territorial advertisement; like other woodpeckers, they have anatomical adaptations to manage the physical stresses from the hammering action. WiKi

Enjoy the day

The great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)

nobody@ipernity.com (Herb Riddle) — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 02:53:56 +0000

Herb Riddle has posted:

Seen from our holiday cottage near Kirby Stephen.

The great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the neck or head. Great spotted woodpeckers chisel into trees to find food or excavate nest holes, and also drum for contact and territorial advertisement; like other woodpeckers, they have anatomical adaptations to manage the physical stresses from the hammering action. WiKi

Woody comes a-peckin

nobody@ipernity.com (Herb Riddle) — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 17:51:42 +0000

Herb Riddle has posted:

A look at one of our regular bird feeders here with this greater-Spotted Woodpecker. Seen from our dining room window and shot through glass.

Enjoy

HWW ~ Lapwings over Harrop Edge

nobody@ipernity.com (Herb Riddle) — Wed, 28 May 2025 06:22:24 +0000

Herb Riddle has posted:

A walk along this Saddleworth high lane gives us a rare treat to see these Lapwings. Here we see a pair in the background performing a courtship dance and the one in the front shows of its flying skills too. Of course we are bordered here by our traditional dry stone walls which were in fact being re-built here along the much of its 1.5mile lane length.
Lapwing: Vanellus vanellus, also known as the peewit in imitation of its display calls, its common name describes its wavering flight. Its black-and-white appearance and round-winged shape in flight make it distinctive, even without its splendid crest. This familiar Farmland, bird has suffered significant declines recently and is now a Red List species.
The PiP shows just a part of these walls being re-constructed.

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Its almost summer!

nobody@ipernity.com (Herb Riddle) — Sat, 17 May 2025 08:00:33 +0000

Herb Riddle has posted:

Two Canada Geese chicks protected by a parent who stands on guard and hisses at me at the top of this steep wall down to our local park boating lake.

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HWW ~ Heron in the park

nobody@ipernity.com (Herb Riddle) — Wed, 14 May 2025 07:06:11 +0000

Herb Riddle has posted:

Our local park is the home for a number of birds and fowl, especially near the lake and large duck pond. This Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) is keeping his very keen eye on the lake which is full of fish. I was told that it nested nearby.
I often see herons around my home town of Oldham, as they stand perfectly still looking for moving fish. In fact I once had one come down to my garden pond which had a number of large Coy Carp, on a Christmas day, and it swept off after swallowing one whole. After that I fitted a big net over the water.

Enjoy the day.

Great grey owl

nobody@ipernity.com (Herb Riddle) — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 16:21:11 +0000

Herb Riddle has posted:

Strix nebulosa - seen some time ago at a bird sanctuary.

The great grey owl is a true owl, and is the world's largest species of owl by length. It is distributed across the Northern Hemisphere, and it is the only species in the genus Strix found in both Eastern and Western Hemispheres. WiKi

CWP Winner, Birds, Feb 2025

A trio of Puffins

nobody@ipernity.com (Herb Riddle) — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 13:44:40 +0000

Herb Riddle has posted:

A trio seen at Duncansby Head, Britain's most North Easterly point.
Here is one of the our countries favourite birds. Puffins are members of the auk family, alongside guillemots and razorbills. Male and female puffins look almost identical. They can live to be over 20 years old and some have been recorded at over 30 years old. Puffins may appear awkward or clumsy on land or when they’re flying. But, like most seabirds, they show off their agility underwater. While steering with their feet, puffins’ wings become flippers, propelling them down at great speed to catch their next meal. During breeding season they arrive back to land with their colourful bills full of sand eels, a key staple of their diet.

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Coot

nobody@ipernity.com (Herb Riddle) — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 08:35:39 +0000

Herb Riddle has posted:

Seen in Dunham Massey. Always nice to see such water fowl.

"The Eurasian Coot is all-black and larger than its cousin, the Moorhen. It has a distinctive white beak and 'shield' above the beak which earns it the title 'bald'. Its feet have lobed flaps of skin on the toes which act in the same way as webbed feet when swimming. It patters noisily over the water before taking off and can be very aggressive towards others." www.rspb.org.uk

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A winter flight

nobody@ipernity.com (Herb Riddle) — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 08:10:28 +0000

Herb Riddle has posted:

A walk to my local Hartshead Pike is always an experience. This winter walk in very slippery conditions tries my balance and patience but with shots like this I cannot complain.

Enjoy the day.

European Goldfinch

nobody@ipernity.com (Herb Riddle) — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 08:54:25 +0000

Herb Riddle has posted:

Carduelis carduelis: another of our feathered friends here taking advantage of our winter sunflower seeds. These are not solitary birds they arrive on our feeders as a flock of a minimum of four sometimes as many as ten. It is little wonder that we have to replenish this feeder daily.

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Grey Wagtail

nobody@ipernity.com (Herb Riddle) — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 08:09:14 +0000

Herb Riddle has posted:

A chance encounter on a local winter walk. Quite grainy, I am afraid as it was dark on the river resulting in this taken at 6400 ISO and then having to be severely cropped but I liked the bird.
“The Grey Wagtail is more colourful than its name suggests, with slate grey upper parts and distinctive lemon yellow under-tail. Its tail is noticeably longer than those of Pied and Yellow Wagtails. They have gradually increased their range in the past 150 years and in the UK have expanded into the English lowlands from the northern and western uplands.” www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/grey-wagtail