I was going to take a break from posting today but as it's #wildlifewednesday I couldn't resist.

Here's an image taken on my old camera in 2023 of a Red Kite in flight. In England there have been several conservation successes with these birds over the last 20-30 years. In certain places they almost feel as common as garden birds!

#redkite #bird #birds #birdsinflight #birdsofmastodon #birding #nature #naturephotography #photo #photography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #conservation

It's another one because they are always 'robin' my attention...(sorry!).

This one was taken on a recent walk; I was sat on a low wall when the robin landed nearby and hopped along towards me. It seemed quite content by my presence and I with its.

#robin #bird #birds #pun #wild #wildlife #birdsofmastodon #nature #natur #naturephotography #photo #photography #wildlifephotography #joke

Another day and another beautiful robin!

They're daily visitors to the garden, so much so that I'm 99% sure I can recognise them by their song.

#robin #birdphotography #birds #bird #nature #naturephotography #birdsofmastodon #nature #wildlife #wildlifephotography #photo #photography #gardenbird

Well, no woodpecker today! But...

...I did get to witness this lovely robin strutting its stuff in the garden!

#robin #bird #birds #birdsofmastodon #wildlife #gardenbird #wildlifephotography #nature #naturephotography #photo #photography #sunday

I still haven't got a photo of a Great Spotted Woodpecker that I'm truly happy with. They're always so high up in the trees.

This is probably my best attempt.

But hopefully tomorrow morning will bring more opportunities.

Wish me luck!!

#woodpecker #bird #birds #birdphotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #wild #nature #naturephotography #natur #uk #scotland #luck

I often see lots of herons along the River Dee when out walking, but came across this one in a small pond in a local park.

Sadly, the pond also had 10+ American skunk cabbages growing which are now classified as an invasive species in the UK. I've reported this to the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative so hopefully they can be managed soon.

#heron #greyheron #bird #birds #birdphotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #nature #naturephotography #outdoors #photo #photography #scotland #uk

Long-tailed tits have started appearing in our garden which really is great! I've not seen them here before so I'm taking that as a positive sign that they are enjoying what we're doing in the garden.

They're such beautiful birds! Very fluffy and I love the yellow ring around their eyes.

Apparently, they're referred to as "feathered lollipops" which is just perfect!

#longtailedtit #bird #birds #birdphotography #birdsofmastodon #wildlife #wildlifephotography #nature #naturephotography #uk

The associated news story can be found here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cddq51v7nygo

Everyday seems to bring another sad story about nature. Today it was a report about the long-term decline in butterfly numbers in the #uk

I'll certainly be doing what I can in the garden to help these wonderful creatures this year.

I've not seen many yet as it's still a bit early but it did prompt me to look at some photos I took in 2023 that I thought I'd share for #wildlifeWednesday

#butterfly #wildlife #wildlifephotography #nature #naturephotography #photo #photography #conservation

I'd be interested to know what everyone thinks of this 'type/style' of wildlife photo.

By all means, it's not your traditional photo but I quite like the mysteriousness of it with the goldfinch hiding amongst the light and the out of focus branches in the foreground. My only wish is that its face and eyes were more clear.

#goldfinch #bird #birds #birdphotography #nature #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #birdsofmastodon #photography #photo #thoughts #mysterious

Despite them making a racket with their squawking in the tall trees that back onto our garden all day, crows really are quite majestic.

Recently photographed this one sitting on the fence of a pigsty nearby.

P.S. Who new pigsty was one word?!

#crow #corvids #birds #bird #birdphotography #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #photo #photography #majestic #portrait

On a day where my walk was curtailed by the rain and I failed to install two new bird nest boxes in the garden, here's an image of a young grey seal taken a few weeks ago at Newburgh Beach.

If you've not been I recommend it! Tonnes of seals, eider ducks, gulls and much more!

#seals #animals #nature #wildlife #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #photography #photo #natur #beach #outdoors #scotland #uk

I've always loved ducks but have an even greater appreciation for them after watching the 1st episode of David Attenborough's Secret Garden tv show and seeing how incredible Dorris the female mallard was raising her nine ducklings!

This isn't Dorris but is a beautiful female mallard (with her male counterpart) that appeared along the river path in front of me recently.

#duck #ducks #mallard #birds #birdsofmastodon #birdphotography #nature #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturephotography

Before a few years ago, I'd never seen or even heard of a tree creeper. Now, they're one of my favourite birds.

Watching them move up a tree is fascinating and I was lucky enough to see one stay still enough to get relatively close for this photo.

Does anyone else have a soft spot for these wonderful birds?

#TreeCreeper #birds #birdphotography #wildlifephotography #wildlife #nature #naturephotography #scotland #birding

Despite being a bit blurred and not what would maybe be considered a sharp or traditionally 'good' bird photo, this has become one of my recent favourites.

On close inspection, the Blue Tit is actually eating a bit of seed but on initial glance I think it looks like it's bowing or taking a moment to itself.

#bluetit #bird #birding #birds #birdphotography #wildlife #gardenbird #nature #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #UK #Scotland #birdsofmastodon #birdscrolling

For my first #wildlifeWednesday I wanted to share this beautiful red squirrel. We're lucky enough in the north-east to still have some while many other places in the UK have lost their populations to the invasive grey squirrel.

This one surprised me as I walked down to the river one morning last weekend. I didn't have my camera out ready but was glad to see it still sat on the fence by the time I had got it out!

#redsquirrel #animals #wildlife #scotland #nature #naturephotography #photo

Wow! What a welcome I had on my first post yesterday. Thank you to everyone who liked, commented and followed me. I've done my best to get back to everyone and will be following you back for days. It's left me feeling very welcome, happy and content.

Here's another chaffinch - a male one this time. Not as action-packed as yesterday but one that I think reflects the content feeling I have right now!

#birds #birdphotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #chaffinch #happy

Diving into Mastodon a bit like the chaffinch diving off this branch. Hi everyone, I'm John a hobbyist wildlife photographer based in Scotland. I currently upload all of my images to Flickr but I'm wanting somewhere else to share some of them too. Still not quite sure how Mastodon works but hope to view yours and share more of my wildlife and nature photographs.

#Wildlifephotography #naturephotography #scotland #wildlife #new #chaffinch #bird #birdphotography #birds