Nuts For Jays

The weather this last week or so has been terrible with heavy rain on most days and culminating in devastating floods in Cumbria. These conditions were not conducive to getting out and about with the camera. I was at home most of the time but all was not lost !! For many weeks now I have been putting lots of feed out for the garden birds. They have been coming in good numbers to feed on the bird seed and peanuts.
I have been visited on a daily basis by a pair of jays that have cost me a small fortune in supplying peanuts for them to cram into their crops and stash away for the cold months ahead. These beautiful birds have however given me numerous opportunities to obtain some nice portrait shots of what is normally a very shy and elusive bird for most of the year. All the images were obtained from my bedroom window in some of the brief brighter spells that have occurred in between deluges of rain Some of the shots are shown above together with an image of a magpie which is also a frequent garden visitor.

Strictly Starlings

As some of my readers will know the BBC 's top show Strictly Come Dancing comes to Blackpool this Saturday to dance in the famous Tower Ballroom. I am sure it will be a huge success and will be enjoyed by millions of viewers. Another show that has been taking place at Blackpool for a few weeks has been the nightly starling roost. Those lucky enough to be present at Marton Mere have enjoyed watching over sixty thousand starlings dancing in the sky as they came into roost in the reedbeds.
I have made two further visits following my previous posting but the weather this last week has been atrocious with very heavy rain almost every day. However last Saturday evening was settled and dry and the starlings duly performed and put on another spectacular show for the assembled photographers and birdwatchers. They danced their way across the Blackpool skies and thrilled us all with a wonderful flying display. Another evening visit was spoilt by heavy showers and the starlings flew straight into the reedbeds as it was certainly not the right  conditions for putting on a flying display. I am sure however that there will be more opportunities to witness this amazing spectacle over the next few weeks. I have posted a few more images of the display when the starlings did strictly come dancing.