Sunny afternoon

 The weather was as forecast, rain in the morning and sunshine in the afternoon.

I decided to go to Askham Bog. Lots of vehicles in the car park, but as on previous visits, I did not meet many people on the reserve. I met a family on the way in and the chap stopped me to ask about my camera lens. He was using a Canon Mk1 camera with a 70 to 300 zoom lens, but he wanted a more powerful lens.

The first bird I saw was a male blackbird, turning over leaves.

As I walked down along the path, several birds flew down and landed on the top rail of the fence. I did not take any bird seed with me.

 

The second picture I took using my phone, as the bird was so close.

It was still very muddy in this part of the reserve, but I was able to find a dryer path.

This robin was happy to sing from a branch close to me

not a lot of birdlife to be seen, but no people either.

Along the next part of the boardwalk I saw these 3 ladybirds

I decided to leave the reserve as it was getting busy, and when I reached the car park, people were waiting for someone to leave so they could park.

I then went to Colton. Last year during the first lockdown a wheatear and yellow wagtail were reported from the area, so who knows what I might see.

I was not expecting this

The small lane I used to walk down was now a busy road, with heavy lorries driving up and down. I took this picture from the main road, the other side of the railway lines and I could hear the shouting and swearing. They are doing some improvements to the railway and it looks awful. A couple of years ago they were working in the old railway yard at Bolton Percy, and how they ruined that!! 

In one of the hedgerows near the road I saw my first yellowhammer of the year.

I came home via Appleton Roebuck and between there and Acaster Malbis I saw my first red kites of the year. Not good pictures due to the sun.

A pleasant afternoon with the bonus of two more birds to add to my year list. Another 12 days and then a chance to get out and about.