Battle....

Today was one of those days when I thought I'd got my blip secured nice and early. There was some pleasant morning sunshing, so I went out into the garden to see if I could get a decent image of our leaf-cutter bees. They weren't around, but as I stood there with my telephoto lens, a mixed flock of long-tailed and blue tits flew into the shrubs along the western edge.

I kept very still and watched as they foraged and preened around me, completely unperturbed by my presence. It was hard to know where to look, and more and more arrived. In the end I think there were about twenty long-tailed tits, probably comprising two family groups, as well as half a dozen blue tits. I got a few nice shots, one of a young bird with some food in its beak and one showing the fluffy breast feathers blowing in the breeze.

I thought my blip was done, so I was able to get on with the mundane chores of shopping and mowing the lawn, before I took the dogs to the river late in the afternoon. I nearly didn't bother to take my camera but at the last moment I relented. As we were walking along I heard vigorous splashing, and realised there was a major swan fight further down the river. There are two swan families along my regular walk route, one with five cygnets and one with eight. The two families seem to have met at their territorial boundary and the males had decided to sort things out.

The dogs and I almost ran towards the action and I managed to get a few shots. The fighting was incredibly violent, and at one stage I thought one was going to drown the other, as he was holding his opponents head under the water. The females and cygnets were arranged around like an audience. Fortunately the fight eventually broke up and neither swan appeared to be hurt, though there were an awful lot of white feathers floating on the river.

Many thanks for all the good wishes yesterday. I think my immune system has kicked in and I think tomorrow should be OK, particularly as I can doze on the train! I won't post a blip tomorrow night but will catch up with you all on Wednesday.