Terns and gulls

This evening I've been helping out with some of these cute little fellows

Common Tern chick

Mark is running a project to study the Common Terns at Broom gravel pits. Tonight he made the third visit of the spring to Cocks Island (the 'Pea' prefix has mysteriously fallen off the sign). The tern chicks were fitted with unique combinations of three colour-rings, so Mark will be able to monitor where individual birds end up. We also metal-ringed the Black-headed Gull chicks.

It almost looks like a tropical island...

After we'd finished with the gulls and terns, we tried for some roosting Sand Martins.

It all looked so promising, with hundreds of birds swirling around above the reeds. Eventually they swooped down. As we made our way through the vegetation to the two nets, we didn't know what we'd see - it could have been no birds, or nets full of birds.

It was the former. Never mind.

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