N0 112: House Martin

Unsurprisingly my progress on my numbered bird blips has been slow so far this year, what with hospital / convalescence and rubbish weather, but mainly because the more birds I blip, the fewer are left to capture. There are still a few that I haven't blipped which are not uncommon, but for some reason I've just not had the opportunity. House martin is just such a bird. This is not a brilliant shot, but it shows the bird collecting mud - in plentiful supply this year - to build a nest. I have the whole summer to get a better photo! I'm setting myself a target of 150 by the end of the year.
Today turned out better than forecast with plenty of warm sunshine. This made the trip out I had already planned more enjoyable - to an area between Rotherham and Doncaster, which is very different from my home area so can sometimes offer a different range of wildlife. There were lots of butterflies around - I saw small tortoiseshell and peacock, and first for the year for me were orange tip and a surprisingly early small copper. I also saw swallows, linnet and yellowhammer and a rare treat - 2 lapwing chicks with this proud parents on sentry / distraction duty.