out on the chase

Yesterday we spent the morning wandering about on Cannock chase.
we walked down to the stepping stones first,

 with cuckoo calling and green woodpecker yaffling, we spotted a green tiger beetle,

and a nesting pair of redstart,

we then walked up onto the heath to look for green hairstreak - we were not disappointed!!!

we also saw a cinnabar moth which just refused to stay still

our first painted lady of the year - unfortunately I had my macro lens on my camera at the time and the painted lady landed quite a way off!

and this oak eggar moth caterpillar

So all in all - not a bad morning

you could almost believe it was spring!

A beautiful warm and sunny dog walk, with just a light breeze, which meant I had a good chance of photographing my first butterfly of the year, so I took my camera and yes right on cue - this small tortoiseshell butterfly turned up at just the right moment!

the birds were in full song too, such as this wren - belting it out!!!

such a big noise from such a tiny bird -

and this chaffinch too!

My favourite kind of dog walks!

Amazing what you can find on fence posts

Not always what you might expect 

Dunnock

Pied wagtail

wellington boots 

Isle of Mull - full of surprises!

This is what I have been waiting for - Little owl , butterflies and sunshine

Last night we attended a talk by Simon King in celebration of the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust taking over the management of the Roaches - we heard tales of some of amazing wildlife experiences, some incredibly scary ones and some highly amusing ones and all totally inspiring.




As a result on my dog walk this morning under clear blue skies I found myself chirruping all the way up and back down the lane, I am not sure what language I was chirruping in but the long tailed tits kept me company all the way, flitting about in the blackthorn  which is now in full flower and looking stunning.



As well as the long tailed tits I also saw three species of butterfly
comma,

peacock,

and small tortoiseshell

and so many birds including chaffinch, blue tit, great tit, robin, dunnock, 4 buzzards soaring overhead, a green woodpecker and........ drum roll please - the little owl is back

happy days!!!!

Signs of Spring

I was gently reminded yesterday that I should be blogging more, my excuse that I was waiting for something new to photograph, wasn't really that convincing!
It's not that I don't take my camera out with me it's just that most of my pictures are of things I have blogged about before. Our lane is still fairly leafless, and there is only so many ways of showing bare twigs and grass.
But yesterday before my mild telling off, I had been out with the camera. I had actually chosen to use my macro lens with the hope of seeing a butterfly. So please view the below pics with that in mind - macro lens!

 the swallows have arrived

the birds are singing

we have catkins

and the blackthorn is just about to burst into flower

so spring is on its way and more pics of butterflies and bees too I hope!

Aqualate - never fails

Yesterday we popped over to Aqualate Mere for an hour in the hide, just to see what was about.

Marsh harrier

Shoveler

Gadwall

Coot