A very birdy day ...

Well - I was determined not to blip a fox for the third day in a row, so went out to a local nature reserve this morning.

It was beautiful, covered with snow, and extremely quiet. I saw, but didn't manage to photograph, a flock of redpolls - and apart from a dunnock, some gulls, wood pigeons, blackbirds and a variety of tits there wasn't a lot about. But I got a decent photo of a pheasant.

When I came home I saw the great spotted woodpecker at work on the old apple tree so got a half decent shot of him too.

But in the end I decided to go with my (distant) kestrel in flight. The other photos are easily repeated, this one was a bit of a fluke.

I absolutely LOVE kestrels - such pretty birds - and I'm forever stalking them, but they tend to be pretty skittish and take flight as soon as they see you. Which is exactly what this one did - fortunately as he tried to make his escape - he flew towards me - hoorah!