There's not much in them there hills...

Yearning for Ring Ouzels and suchlike, we headed for the hills this morning. This is Deacon Hill, near Pegsdon in Bedfordshire:




Regrettably, there were no ouzels, no redstarts of any variety and no Wheatears. Our best bird was a fly-over Curlew. There was a nice view from the top (Sandy transmitter and Little Barford power station visible through binoculars - a distance of 18 miles), but not much to see on the way up and the way down.

We also dropped in at Sharpenhoe Clappers, but there was even less to see there.

After discarding our crampons and oxygen cylinders, we stopped off at Rookery pit, where we failed to see three Ruff. 'Best' bird was what looked like an Argentine Bluebill, which, in case you're unaware, has (in proportion to body size) the biggest penis of any bird (20cm!). And no, we didn't see it.

Good storm-clouds, though

A whole new ecosystem in a bit of discarded carpet

photos taken with Canon Powershot A640

Beds birding

Started in Cambridgeshire, at Croydon. It's the highest point in the county and you can walk along the ridge, with nice views across the border into Bedfordshire.

Skylark

The abandoned medieval village of Clopton

A fox was hunting rabbits among the earthworks

Next stop, Broom gravel pits. Move along now, there's nothing for you here...

Yellowhammer

A pair of Oystercatchers fed along one of the pits. The bird not in this photo was ringed

Next, Pegsdon Hills, a Wildlife Trust reserve.

Peacocks were quite plentiful on the blossom

Meadow Pipits were in song all over the hill

Ring Ouzel record shot for Darren...

They have some nice sheep grazing the slopes

Triangulation point

Unusual subject matter for a pub sign nearby

Dog-violet

Sand Martins back at their colony along Meadow Lane

Ringed Plover at Willington

bird/insect photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

macro/landscape photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 77 with 20x eyepiece