Surprised and a bit disappointed watching #springwatch just now to see the segment on parakeets. Mentioning how "cool" it is to see parakeets breeding in the UK, but barely any mention of the fact that they're invasive and impact our native ecology.

Not many smarter-looking birds than a male stonechat!

#birds #stonechat

A chalk stream at sundown.

This chalk stream is much altered by man, shackled by embankments on both sides and overly straightened, deepened and widened. It doesn't operate quite as it should, but still offers refuge for a host of wildlife (and evocative scenes like this).

#rivers #chalkstreams

Spend so many years of my life trying to spot otters, in vain. Now, I'm lucky enough to see one (almost at will) almost any time of day, along the same stretch of river.

The caveat is he/she still sometimes disappears without warning, reminding me how elusive they are... #mammals

Several times a week as part of my job, I pass this large old beech tree. Over the past couple of years there has been a pair of little owls regularly sat in the hollow, but more recently it's been this barn owl having a snooze in the late afternoon sun.
#barnowl #littleowl #beechtree

Treated to one of the UK's true wildlife spectacles. Several thousand pink footed geese flocking in to roost on this area of wet-grassland. The splendid sunset was a bonus.
#pinkfootedgeese #riverhull #wildfowl #wetlands