First stop this morning was to drop the dogs off at the groom room and then a bit DIY at Dawn's daughters flat. And then it was back to the Cottage to wait for the home delivery, which should have arrived at 6:00pm yesterday evening. And then it was back to pick the dogs up, so unfortunately there was no walk again today.
So after all the chores, it was a case of chilling out in the back garden, and literally chilling, especially with that bitter westerly, which at this time of year is normally quite mild.
With the cool conditions there wasn't much to see apart from a mouse, which saw me coming down the garden and made a quick dash for cover. The same happened when I got to the pond, I walked around the Lavender bush and spooked a Frog which made a huge leap from the lawn to the pond. It must be the deodorant I'm wearing!!
So apart from two critters making a run for it, I did manage to photograph some of the other creatures in the garden:
Here are a few images from today:
There are few ruffled feathers on this Blue Tit. It's just had a bath in the neighbours rain-filled wheelbarrow.
Birds Recorded on my travels today: Oystercatcher, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Skylark, Dunnock, Blackbird, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Linnet and Goldfinch
Amphibians Recorded: Frog
Butterflies Recorded: 1 Small White
Bees Recorded: 4 Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris), Chocolate Mining Bee (Andrena scotica) and Ashy Mining Bee (Andrena cineraria)
Hoverflies Recorded: Spring Epistrophe (Epistrophe eligans)
Ships Today
Seen but not photographed, the British Aircraft Carrier "HMS Queen Elizabeth" was just off the tip of Portland as I made my return journey home. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me so the photo above was when she was in Weymouth Bay on 3 Dec 19. She will be taking part in an exercise off Scotland before departing for a tour of the Indo-Pacific region. More on this vessel Here and Here.