Wild West Yorkshire nature diary
mistle thrush female sparrowhawk

Man O'War

Friday 21st April 2000
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sparrowhawkA MALE SPARROWHAWK (greyer and smaller than the female) swoops down and lands on the hedge. After sitting there a minute or two he flies off over the meadow. He seems a shade more agile than the female as he circles quickly and gains height.

mistle thrush A Willow Warbler sings from a hedge by the canal bridge. Two Mistle Thrushes perch above on a power line pole. Behind them the grey clouds of a recent downpour are heading away into the north east. They've got a soft focus look to them. They hang like flounces of gauze.

shower clouds There's not enough breeze to stir the canal but a discarded 2 litre plastic beer bottle glides across the surface, like the float of a Portuguese Man-of-War.

Sycamore buds are opening to reveal the heads of blossom, which are still tightly fused, like florets of broccoli. A lot of the red blossom-heads of Ash have been knocked down by the rain.

Richard Bell
Richard Bell,
wildlife illustrator
E-mail; 'richard@daelnet.co.uk'

  
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