Yesterday I finished my walk to the East Lighthouse, however I forgot to add in this newly fledged Chaffinch which was the best sitter ever even though at times, as you can see from some of the photographs, he nearly fell asleep! I am sure if you watched the video yesterday you will have seen him however I thought you might like to see the stills I took also.
Give me a break, I'm tired posing!
While he is having a bit of a nap I will tell you a little about the European Chaffinch.
Chaffinch - Fringilla coelebs
This bird is not migratory in the milder parts of its range,
but vacates the colder regions in winter. The coelebs part of its name means
"bachelor". This species was
named by Carl Linnaeus who was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist,
who laid the foundations for the modern scheme for formalising the system of naming species of
living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use
Latin grammatical forms. He found that the
females depart in winter, but the males often remain. This species forms loose
flocks outside the breeding season, sometimes mixed with Bramblings.
OK, this is my best side!
Mama, tell this lady to go away!!
Perhaps if I don't look at her she will give up!!
OK, this is really my LAST pose!
The following photos are flowers I discovered during this walk.
I do not know a lot about Orchids however I know there are bloggers
that do, so help is required here please.
I think most, if not all of the following Orchids are Common Spotted
ones however I am not sure about the deep purple ones, they look a bit
different to me. Please advise me.
The Common Spotted orchid gets its name from its leaves
which are green with abundant purplish oval spots. They form a rosette at
ground level before the flower spike appears; narrower leaves sheath the stem.
The flowers range from white and pale pink through to purple, but have
distinctive darker pink spots and stripes on their three-lobed lips, ranging
from 15 to 60 cm in height. The flowers
are densely packed in short, cone-shaped clusters. They thrive in damp grassland and flower
between June and July.
Yellow Iris
Double Gorse
Buttercup Field
Iris Field
Grasses
More Orchids Below
Interesting, the common spotted-orchid is the County Flower of
West Lothian/Linlithgowshire in the UK.
A carpet of Orchids
Many thanks for those people who left comments on my posts yesterday.
Too cute! The orchids are gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteThe chaffinch is darling!! And your photos are picture post card perfect....and that includes the beautiful flowers!!!
ReplyDeleteSorry about not being able to copy the logo text for the Bird D'Pot Meme for Saturday this week. I'm glad you alerted me to the problem. It's been fixed now, thanks to you!! So, I think you can copy either of your choice. If not, I will email you and help you. I don't put my email account up for the public access because of my short time allotted on the computer these days.
http://id-rather-b-birdin.blogspot.com/
What a great model that Chaffinch was Margaret. Lovely pictures of him.
ReplyDeleteThe Orchids are beautiful. I love seeing them this time of the year.
Beautiful bird Margaret..lovely photos of it..also the flowers so special
ReplyDeleteThere isn't much sweeter in this world than baby birds :-)
ReplyDeleteOh my Margaret these are award winning photos, I LOVE LOVE LOVE your litte baby guy close ups LOVE them...beautiful post.
ReplyDeletethe blooms are amazing, but that little chaffinch stole the show! :)
ReplyDeleteThat little bird is so cute with his sticky up hair.I love the flowers,but don't have a clue about Orchids.
ReplyDeleteI love all nature so love the flowers as well as the chaffinch. Super photos!
ReplyDeleteI have never seen such abundant and huge orchid plants! Your Chaffinch is just adorable, my favorites are the last two pictures of him, the close ups. Those are splendid because you can see every last detail of his new feathers! I don't think I have ever seen wild cotton, and it does actually look like cotton! The hilly Buttercup field is wonderful, and the Gorse!!! Is that considered a real flower, or a type of weed? I think I have never seen any and I would like my yard full of it!!!! How long is the blossoming season?
ReplyDeleteHow cute is that little chaffinch and your captions! I especially like that one rogue feather sticking out of the top of its head. Your orchids are delightful, I've never seen such a colorful selection.
ReplyDeleteWonderful set of pictures - I tended to think that almost all Orchids were common spotted!
ReplyDeleteCheers - Stewart M - Melbourne
I've just been reading through your recent posts and it looks like you had a wonderful time visiting Rathlin Island with lots of birds and wildlife to see and lots of history to delve into. Very interesting reads, all of them!
ReplyDeleteNow for the Orchids, you asked for my input on the ID's...remember I'm no expert, and they vary greatly in their appearance, so this is my best guestimate!!
Images 1,2, and 4 - Heath Spotted-orchid (dactylorhiza maculata)
Images 3 and 7 - Common Spotted-orchid (d - fuchsii)
Image 8 - Northern Marsh-orchid (d -purpurella)
Images 5 and 6 I'm afraid it's difficult to tell as they're still in bud.
I was going to give a description of each one but it will be much easier for you to research them, and check out my ID's, on the net. I hope this helps?...[;o)