Out and about in October

I twice went to the coast in October looking for goldcrests but didn't see one.  Then last week I heard one in the garden. The first camera I grabbed has only a 300mm lens so the photos are a bit heavily cropped but they are not too bad. This is the first goldcrest I have seen here for almost 20 years but I expect they are here more often and I don't notice. I had forgotten they have such bright orange feet.

When I was at the coast at least I saw a few gulls.  Gulls are not always easy even though I went on a gull ID course last winter.  This one is easy - a great black-backed gull (I hope).

And a herring gull.

And a first winter herring gull (I hope).

This is a bit of an experiment.  I made a panorama of redshanks at St Marys.  It looks OK on my computer but I don't know how it will come out on the blog.  Click on the photo to enlarge it and see if it worth looking at.

In Gosforth Nature Reserve I met a young roe deer fawn, now in her dark winter coat.  She was curious but not alarmed, even though I was fairly close.

I always find flight shots very difficult but at least this heron, also in the nature reserve, is nearly in focus.

Back in the garden the wasps, bees and hoverflies were enjoying the Kniphofia caulescens.

October was mostly wet and windy, starting with Storm Alex and ending with Storm Aiden.  The charts don't show wind but confirm the cloudy wet weather.

Early in the month was the UK's wettest single day on record.  And this Met Office chart confirms that it rained almost every day, which was what it felt like.

The reimposed lockdown will have an impact on all our activities but I'll try to get some photos for November, even if only in the garden.  During the first lockdown there was so much see that I was posting every two days.  Now I'll try to keep up once a week.