I decided to don my shorts and venture out and upset anyone who was unfortunate to cast their eyes on my ghostly white legs. At about the same time the sun decided to disappear.  We are currently midway through the first Tresco Ale festival for the year and therefore the pathways and tracks were rather quiet as everyone was centred at the New Inn. The wildlife seemed fairly quiet too. We have however been enjoying an invasion of Hirundines, birds in, or resembling the Swallow family. I decided to see if I could better my previous pictures to a little success.

This House Martin is one of hundreds feeding all over the island. They catch insects on the wing and are one of the most acrobatic birds I have ever seen. You can tell the difference between these and Swifts as they are smaller in size and have a white patch at the base of their torsos. They also appear stubbier to me.

 

This one is of a Swift and is a little better than the picture in my previous post methinks....

 

I didn't see any 'special' birds while out and about but the usual suspects were dotted around the island. There were goldcrests lining the trees and shrubs along the path by the Great Pool. They are the smallest bird native to the UK weighing about 6 grams. They can be seen at any time of year usually dotting their way among pine trees.

 

 

The top photo I took earlier on this year. It is heavily cropped and therefore not as good as I'd like it to be but I do like the fact that you can see the fly on the end of it's tongue if you look closely.

 

 

We have Gadwalls on both of the pools on the Tresco. They also reside here throughout the year although the numbers increase during the winter. This one was soaking up the brief interlude between clouds. Although they are predominantly just grey in colour I do like the speckled effects on their flanks. 

 

 

 I  think this little guy ventured too far from the nest.....