This week I heard the first cuckoo heralding the arrival of the summer migrants. The nightingales have returned and have started their singing. I’ve seen many birds lately on my morning walks and thought I’d share some pictures with you.
Nannie RaRa has written the second book for younger children. This time it is about a jay who lost his distinguishing blue feathers.
The book was inspired by a jay that came into Nannie’s garden. She took photographs of it, and turned them into watercolour paintings. The story of Jason Jay was woven around the paintings.
Jason Jay has lost his blue feathers. He asks for help from Monty Mole and Sonia Snail who do their best to find the blue and white striped feathers but to no avail. It is only when he steps into the ants nest that he finds his missing feathers.
The book is available both electronically and as a paperback from Amazon. I hope you enjoy reading it.
The jay who lost his feathers: paperback
The jay who lost his feathers: ebook
Nannie RaRa has published a new book, Bobbie Robin’s red feathers, written originally for her youngest grandchildren.
The story is about Bobbie Robin who started life as an egg in the nest box in Nannie’s garden. When he left the nest box he couldn’t wait to have red feathers, but it wasn’t that easy.
Bobbie tried to make red feathers with paint, then jelly and finally red lipstick, but none worked as he expected.
The book is illustrated throughout with delightful watercolours by Nannie RaRa. The paintings were based on photographs taken of robins who had indeed laid eggs in the nest box in Nannie’s garden. The eggs hatched and the fledglings wandered about the garden.
The book is available both electronically and as a paperback from Amazon. I hope you enjoy reading it.
Bobbie Robin’s red feathers: ebook
Bobbie Robin’s red feathers: paperback
Nannie RaRa has been out and about with her camera taking photographs of nature both during her morning walks and in her garden. She is lucky in having woods, fields, a river and a wildlife site all nearby.
Here are a few pictures from those walks. I’ve named the birds as best I can, but do correct me if I have them wrong.
First up is a black cap. I heard him singing every day as I walked along the path and managed to get this photo.
Then over the wildlife site I saw a jay. I first noticed it when a lot of the smaller birds were making a ruckus.
Down by the river I stood watching a cormorant drying its wings. It stood there for ages.
On the river one morning when it was as still as a mill pond I watched two great crested grebes doing their neck dance.
The last two photographs are not the clearest as the birds were a long way away.
A goldfinch was perched on the overhead wires.
The next two photos are of a common whitethroat. It was among the brambles which were growing near a small lake on the wildlife site.
This bird looks similar to the common whitethroat. Is it the same or is it a lesser whitethroat?
Also near the lake on an old tree stump was a rook, or was it a crow?
A group of long-tailed tits were in a tree.
A chaffinch was patiently sitting on a twig.
This bluetit was taken in the garden as it was looking for insects among the holly.
Nearby there have been some robins nesting. First I saw the male robin with insects in its beak. Then the baby robins appeared and were fed for a while before finding their own food.
There was a family of starlings in the garden looking for food. The young sat there waiting to be fed, then opend their mouths and squawked when they couldn’t wait any longer.
Finally there are a few photographs of insects found in the garden.
Do let me know if any of the birds are mis-identified. Nannie RaRa is fairly new to birdwatching and to photographing them. There are so many blurry photos I won’t show you.
Let me know if you like these.
Today the weather was perfect: sunny, no wind and warm. Snowdrops, crocuses and the first daffodils are out. I went for a walk to the riverbank and saw several birds that appeared to be posing specially for a photo.
These first birds were in the trees and bushes.
Then at the waterside were curlews, gulls, turnstones and other water birds. The water itself was like a mill pond, so still with brilliant reflections.
I need to learn what the different birds are especially ones by the water. If you know what these are do tell me.
It was indeed a beautiful day for birdwatching.
Nannie RaRa 