one of the crow family, that includes rooks, carrion crows, ravens and jackdaws,  that lives in the woods along the Tamar. It looks like a crow or a raven but in the bright morning sun appears to have a lot of grey on the underside of the wings and throat. The silhouette is typical of a raven, but both crows and ravens are meant to be a glossy black all over. Hooded crows have well defined grey markings but are confined to Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. Maybe it is just a trick of the bright light.

lbj's

We went in search of the green hairstreak butterfly today. We did not see a single butterfly of any sort, but there were lots of little brown jobs; this bird flew quite close to us for several minutes. It could be a willow warbler, a chiffchaff or a wood warbler. It had a sweet song which suggests it was a willow warbler freshly arrived from overseas, but it is notoriously difficult to tell one lbj from another. Unusually, the jay shown below flew towards us rather than away and displayed its very handsome blue chevrons.

the black paw gang

the black paw gang hanging out together and looking for trouble. Meanwhile the leaves are almost out.

siskins

this unusual looking bird is a juvenile siskin, the adults lack the mottled appearance on the head and breast feathers. Interestingly, it has been ringed for some reason.

the wooded valley

this photo, taken in Wareham woods (or Dunterhue woods, the names on the maps vary) looking West towards Carthamartha and Dunterton, gives a good idea of the wooded nature of the Tamar valley. The river is just visible through the trees at the bottom of the photograph (about 150 feet below). The  conical hill to the right in the background is a hill fort, Carthamartha. These hill forts are the remnants of a line of defensive fortifications guarding the points where the Tamar can be forded easily.

on St George's day

Unlike other parts of Britain whose national days are celebrated with great relish, England's St George's day is ignored especially by our churlish national broadcaster, the BBC. On this glorious Spring day there are no roses in blossom to photograph, but the cherry blossom is almost out, and the chaffinches are singing their socks off. Time for a public holiday, away with the marxist-leninist May Day and on with 23rd April, or maybe have both!