In the Shropshire Hills you are never far from a Common Buzzard.
A Barn Swallow looks or insects from a wire – less energetic than flying around.
A (fast) passing House Martin showing the subtle blue, black and brown of the plumage as well as the very obvious white rump.
One of the breeding species along the stream is Grey Wagtail. The adult is bringing food for the brood. Likely a female though the males may already have started to lose the jet black bib that separates the sexes during the mating period.
A very elegant bird
This view shows that the tail is proportionally longer than that of the Pied Wagtail.
The flash of the yellow under tail coverts as the bird flies away. This year-round feature invites miscalling it a Yellow Wagtail. That species is a summer visitor with an olive back and yellow on the complete breast and belly.
Here we see that the yellow goes right around the body. Note to the white outer tail feathers.
A juvenile still with a yellow gape line. Even at this age it has yellow under tail coverts.
"Feed me... feed me". This juvenile begs to be fed.
There are a few bird feeders near the visitor centre where this male Chaffinch was feasting.
A Linnet. Always a difficult bird to get close-enough to photograph. A male in breeding plumage has extensive red on the sides of the breast. This may be a post-breeding male or a female.
In flight the yellow wing flash of Goldfinch is very apparent in this flight shot.
(Photography by Phil Nock and Captions by Ed Wilson)
