Raspberry Delight

Another very cold night resulting in a heavy coating of frost on the bedroom Velux window. This meant I couldn't see the sky when the dawn was breaking and I went back to sleep. Mrs B got up and shouted on me that that the sky was full of colour. I cursed the Velux window and its excellent insulation that allows the frost to lie on the outside of it, then I cursed going back to sleep.

For the second day in a row I had to open the window to see the view outside, and what a view it was. There were lots of wispy thin clouds filling the sky high enough to be illuminated red by the sun, which had still about 25 minutes before it broke the horizon. No time for a shower first this morning, it was a case of throwing on some warm clothes, grabbing the camera and getting down to the water's edge.

This was the 4th shot I took and believe it or not the colours had faded quite a lot in the 5 minutes or so it took me to get outside. I have got to know that bright red colours occur well before or after sunrise/set, which means you have to be up well before sunrise or hang around after the sun has set as I discovered back in May when I blipped some Raspberry Ripple.

I just wish I had been ten minutes earlier to capture the full majesty of a red dawn, but I suppose us blippers are never satisfied!

Following some excitement yesterday, I had planned to blip one of the song birds that frequent the garden, possibly even little Tommy Titmouse in a different pose.
I came back to the house in the afternoon and there sitting on the ground next to the garden shed was a Sparrow Hawk with its big yellow eyes staring at me. Its wings were outstretched and I thought it had maybe caught a small bird. However, when it moved away slightly I could see it had nothing in its claws. It appeared stunned and I thought it may have struck something. The other birds were making plenty of noise from nearby trees, although little Tommy was sitting on a wall not far from me. I didn't want to leave it where it was, so I took off my old fleece jacket and threw it over the Sparrow Hawk. I carefully got a hold of it and could see its face through a space in the jacket.

After taking a couple of blips to capture the moment, I placed it in an old holdall and took it to some woods where it was released. It flew off close to the ground and then landed with one of its wings looking injured. It then walked/flew amongst the trees and out of sight. Despite it taking small birds from the garden I do hope it recovers. It is certainly a beautiful bird and it was a real privilege to see it close up, although it has huge talons for a relatively small body size.

Wonder what I will blip tomorrow?