@davidelement.bsky.social
Photographer, naturalist, author, film-maker, webmaster, ex-chartered scientist. All photos and videos © David Element. No AI! https://www.davidelement.net/ https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPElement https://www.avalon.red/editorial?blob=at.DAVID+ELEMENT
@davidelement.bsky.socialThank you - me too!
@davidelement.bsky.socialThank you. More curiosity than menace!
@davidelement.bsky.social#BirdOfTheDay themes are #LookingDown and #LookingUp. So here is a male Eurasian Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus photograph from 2019 that falls neatly into one of these categories (no prizes for guessing which!).
@davidelement.bsky.socialThank you Rob!
@davidelement.bsky.socialThis lovely Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus has been seen regularly in a small London park recently #birds. She couldn't have chosen a better perch yesterday morning.
@davidelement.bsky.socialFirst seen in November 2020, Little Egret Egretta garzetta No. 7 is probably blissfully unaware of how much pleasure local birdwatchers derive out of seeing him reappear in a small London park after a 6-month breeding season hiatus each year #birds. He made a dramatic reappearance this morning.
@davidelement.bsky.socialI have sent you a DM Rachel (on the 'other channel')!
@davidelement.bsky.socialA soporific 2025D Red Fox Vulpes vulpes vixen, now 19 months old, taking a rest early this morning. She is currently asleep in a plant trough.
@davidelement.bsky.socialTwo juvenile Eurasian Hobbies Falco subbuteo, still present on a pylon above a small London nature park yesterday morning #birds.
@davidelement.bsky.socialCommon Darter Dragonflies Sympetrum striolatum flying in tandem in a small London park yesterday. Cropped, as off centre in frame. Manual focussing was used.
@davidelement.bsky.socialA Common Darter Dragonfly Sympetrum striolatum patrolling in a small London park yesterday. There are still quite a lot of these late summer dragonflies around, something that will be of benefit to the juvenile Eurasian Hobbies Falco subbuteo waiting to depart on their long migration.
@davidelement.bsky.socialThis rather bizarre sight is a male Common Blackbird Turdus merula that hadn't quite finished moulting yet #birds! Note the feather sheaths. Photographed yesterday in a small London park. As shot, and cropped. He will look far more handsome once his remaining feathers have grown!
@davidelement.bsky.socialIndeed. A great week - six species of raptor have been seen locally since 16th September (not all by me), including 3 Hobbies and 2 Peregrines. All in urban London.
@davidelement.bsky.social#BirdOfTheDay theme today is raptors, so here are 3 falcon species, all seen on the same London pylon this am. A well hidden Eurasian Hobby Falco subbuteo, a female Common Kestrel F. tinnunculus realising the implications of a notice, and an inelegant take-off by a female Peregrine F. peregrinus!
@davidelement.bsky.socialThanks Mark!
@davidelement.bsky.socialYou need to see this photo cropped to be able to determine what was happening #birds. The Carrion Crow Corvus corone adopted a 'divide and rule' approach by dislodging one of the pair of juvenile Eurasian Hobbies Falco subbuteo from its perch above the pylon above a London wildlife park this am.
@davidelement.bsky.socialFirmly in the "I didn't expect to see this today" category, a female Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus being 'mobbed' (something of an exaggeration) by an irate Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea in a small London park this morning. She was unmoved #birds!
@davidelement.bsky.socialAs shot, and cropped - a confrontation between 2 juvenile Eurasian Hobbies Falco subbuteo, perched on a pylon above a small London nature park (a third was nearby), and a Carrion Crow Corvus corone that had taken exception to their presence. 6 species of raptor have been seen in the area this week.
@davidelement.bsky.socialAnother (cropped) image of the Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus tiercel from 16th September
@johnboorman.bsky.social. The falling, rather featureless feather (a useful clue to their presence) may have belonged to a recent victim rather than to him, or it may have been dislodged by preening.
@davidelement.bsky.socialThis Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus tiercel perched, uninterrupted by corvids, on this pylon above small London park for at least 28 minutes on 16th September. The buffish tint on his breast suggests that he may be a new (definitely unringed) visitor @johnboorman.bsky.social.
