The Lovely Sight of Spring

The perfect evening for a walk along the canal and some local urban wildlife watching.

A beautiful spring evening and the sun is shining with bright light across the landscape, casting harsh shadows and illuminating everything with a golden glow. A perfect excuse to wander along the canal with a camera and set of binoculars.

It is definitely I think one of the most splendid times of year, the bright young shade of green that showcases the new leaves of growing plants and of course the birdsong bustling from the bushes. walking along the canal I hadn't spotted many birds, the local mallards and swans had spotted me and were racing for possible bread dinner and the loudest noise was coming from a moorhen paddling its way nervous in a circle around my spot on the bank.

After watching a spider repair its web in the sun next to this patch of bluebells, I was surprised to hear a sound I didn't initially recognise.

It was definitely a group of birds, and they were hopping from branch to branch along the hedgerow towards me, before silence. I began scanning the leaves and instantly smiled as I saw a characteristically red rump pointed towards me.

Only my second sighting of a Bullfinch not for lack of trying, the only one within a few meters and definitely the only one for more than a few seconds.

The rest of my evening was spent happily wandering back and forth along the footpath, following the few individuals weaving about the branches before they paired off to hopefully help me with some more sightings next year.