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For a number of days recently one or two starlings have chosen a neighbour’s TV ariel for an early morning warm up.

Following a tipoff that the Egyptian geese at Highfields had produced a very late brood I paid a visit on Sunday afternoon (10/10). I would not have seen them had not the parent bird stood up to usher them away as I approached. I didn’t get too close but managed a couple of shots of the four bundles of fluff. I’m not sure they will survive if the weather gets cold soon.

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However the young great crested grebe I have been following since the spring are still looking very good, especially in these reflective views.

Some pollinating insects are still around as well as dragonflies and the odd butterfly. This is the hoverfly Eristalis Pertinax  that I blogged a few days ago looking sharp on these lovely tansy pompoms drinking in the afternoon sun.

Finally, pausing in my way out of ANR today (11/10) I took a few shots of the lapwings and then noticed a snipe probing the mud for something edible. This is a short VIDEO CLIP showing what happened when it got too close to a lapwing.