Burnt-tip Orchids

A stunning display this year !

A lovely woodland walk

Simply beautiful xx

Staff Nurse Lucy

Lucy would like to wish everyone a happy bank holiday. While you are all socialising in the sun, catching up with all your mates, having a beer, the pandemic totally forgotten about - Lucy is working in the Covid Red Zone,  nursing your loved ones, sweltering in PPE until she nearly passes out, mopping up vomit and dealing with 'end of lives', while you sunbath on the beach.  She just wants to remind you all that the Corona virus hasn't gone away and she will see you in a couple of weeks time when you can't breath. 

Last week one of our local florists, The Little Yellow House Flower Shop, ran a post on social media where you could nominate a key worker and say why they deserved to win a bouquet. There were 100's of nominations with just 2 prizes. As you can see from this lovely picture, Lucy was presented with a beautiful bouquet, well deserved and with such lovely comments online. A real lift for Lucy and just what she needed.  That smile says just how happy she was to win!  Well done, stay safe, love you xx

Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Chainbridge Lane

On the way home from the Hoopoe we called again at Chainbridge Lane to see if the Buff-breasted Sandpiper was any closer. It was a shimmering dot in the distant heat haze on Thursday. It was slightly closer and we had excellent views, but afraid not really close enough for a pic. Still, an excellent end to a brilliant day with a turtle dove purring away at the side of the car !  Home for a bowl of homemade chili xx

Hoopoe, Ordsall, Retford

A female blackbird strolled by and she certainly caught his eye, crest up, shimmering wings, a 'look at me' body shake but afraid she didn't give him a second glance so he went on eating leatherjackets!

A tea-time trip to Retford, my home town. The hoopoe was on a tiny playing field in the midst of a housing estate in Ordsall, just through Retford. A small crowd that all practiced social distancing and didn't stray close to the bird at all. Everyone remained at the top end of the field, but all were birders not photographers.  Before we arrived the bird had been flushed earlier by dog walkers throwing balls but the small crowd remained and waited patiently to see if it would return. We were not disappointed. It appeared again at the bottom of the playing field and spent the next hour feeding and snoozing. Excellent views of an absolute stunning bird xx

A trip to Padley Gorge, Peak District

Pied Flycatchers - such stunning birds

Plenty of Pied Flycatcher action today. One of the target birds and they certainly didn't disappoint.

Redstart - one of Karen's favourites

Lots of spotted flycatchers

A few Wood Warblers singing, flitting in the tree tops. Managed a couple of fleeting glimpses. This was the most wanted bird for all the birders there today.

A few Redstarts, singing in the tree tops

A lovely morning out for us at Padley Gorge in the Peak District. A place we love to visit. We arrived quite early and easily got parked. This place can get absolutely packed but with 99% of visitors staying around the grassy area near the stream, the Gorge itself has few people walking along it. There was just us and a few birders and fell runners early morning but as the sun got warmer, the bird activity diminished so we beat a retreat around noon. Couldn't believe the amount of people that were picnicking and paddling, recon there was half of Sheffield there ! A fabulous day out seeing all the target birds and meeting a few nice folk along the way.