Life choices under review

Just when you think you are happy with how your relationship is you discover that maybe you are just fooling yourself. I gave Fru. Gressholmen the best of me this morning. I thought the early morning rain and a gentle south easterly wind was a sign from the Bird Gods and I boarded the 07:30 ferry full of expectation. Getting off the boat 3 Ringed Plovers on a rock by the quay made me think I had hit gold but getting to the bay an extremely high tide (I had checked the tide tables so knew it would be high tide but not this high..) meant no mud was exposed. I searched all the offshore skerries and islets for roosting birds but only found a handful more Ringed Plovers. A flyover Redshank briefly got my hopes up but I soon had to accept that this relationship is stuck and I unless the other party wants to make changes then I think I need to reassess my life choices.

 

With no pictures from today here are some raptors and the like from the last few days.

male Hobby (lerkefalk) with prey (a bird) in his bill and the female about to take it from him

the female with the prey in her talons. She then removed the feathers before taking to the nest and feeding the young

this years nest is viewable in the telescope but is too distant to  satisfactorily record the comings and goings digitally

a quasi raptor - male Red-backed Shrike (tornskate)

Sparrowhawk (spurvehauk). This bird was calling like it was one of the juveniles but from this angle looks more like it is mum

I can see you