Oldt1mer - Keith's photos with the keyword: Leigh

The captivating European Robin – Erithacus rubecula – or Robin Redbreast to many, is a very friendly little creature and is the UK’s favourite bird. They sing nearly all the year round and have very loud voices for such little birds. It belongs to the Old World Flycatcher family as opposed to the American Robin which belongs to the Thrush family. This lovely little one was seen at Pennington Flash. Explore No 485, May 23 2023 This Picture is fully © Copyrighted. None of my images may be copied, reproduced or altered in any form or manner or placed on the internet or any other social media, or in any form of publication either print or otherwise, in any form or manner without my written permission.

The Chaffinch - Fringilla coelebs - is a very widespread and abundant bird in GB and is commonly seen in gardens hopping about under feeders or taking food from the feeder itself. It is a very colourful bird with the male having a blue-grey cap, rust-red underparts and black and white wing bars whilst the female has a duller greencap, grey underparts and not as much white on the wings. This male, as you can see, has white lesions on its left foot and to a lesser extent on its left foot. This is called Viral Papilloma and is caused by a mite (Cnemidocoptes) which is passed on by contact or even just perching on a place where another infected bird has sat. The disease is also known as 'Tassle Foot', 'Mange' or 'Scaly Foot' and can affect not just the feet but also the legs of infected birds. The disease mainly affects the Chaffinch but has also been found more rarely on Bramblings, Bullfinches, Greenfinches and Goldfinches. The disease which, strangely, can spontaneously disappear, develops slowly over a period of weeks to months and the bird can live quite happily unless it gets too severe causing lameness. Seen at Pennington Flash, Leigh. Explore No 329, Nov 09 2022 This Picture is fully © Copyrighted. None of my images may be copied, reproduced or altered in any form or manner or placed on the internet or any other social media, or in any form of publication either print or otherwise, in any form or manner without my written permission.

This is, I think, a female Eristalis pertinax which landed, for a very short time, on a small patch of Ragwort - Senecio jacobaea. The Eristalis is a large genus of around 99 species of Hover and Drone Flies which makes it very difficult to positively identify this one, especially from just the side view. (Maybe someone with more knowledge of this can help?). Common Ragwort is a very widespread 'weed' which grows up to 1m high and is highly attractive to Bees and other insects. Seen by the Leeds-Liverpool Canal near Pennington Flash, Leigh, Lancashire. This Picture is fully © Copyrighted. None of my images may be copied, reproduced or altered in any form or manner or placed on the internet or any other social media, or in any form of publication either print or otherwise, in any form or manner without my written permission.

This is the, very cute, Little Grebe - Tachybaptus ruficollis - also known as the Dabchick, which, at 9 to 11.5 inches (23-29cm) long is the smallest of the European Grebe family. A quite shy bird it often remains out of sight hiding in waterside vegetation and if it feels threatened when on a rare trip into open water, will quickly dive and only surface unseen some distance away. Because it is such a great diver and underwater swimmer, its feet are placed towards the back of the body making it rather clumsy on land, which is why it spends most of its its life on the water only coming ashore to breed and occasionally eat. Even its nest is built on the water, using waterweed to make a floating platform. This one was seen in its summer breeding colours at Pennington Flash, Leigh, Lancashire. This Picture is fully © Copyrighted. None of my images may be copied, reproduced or altered in any form or manner or placed on the internet or any other social media, or in any form of publication either print or otherwise, in any form or manner without my written permission.

The Mute Swan - Cygnus olor - is the second largest of all waterfowl species (after the Trumpeter Swan) but it has been known to equal or exceed a male trumpeter in mass. Its name is derived because it is the least vocal of all swans but it can give out a fierce hiss when threatened and does have a repertoire of other sounds. Its closes relative is the Black Swan and the Black Necked Swan. This one was seen at Pennington Flash, Leigh. This Picture is fully © Copyrighted. None of my images may be copied, reproduced or altered in any form or manner or placed on the internet or any other social media, or in any form of publication either print or otherwise, in any form or manner without my written permission.