Common Buzzard - March 2019

It was another beautiful blue skied Sunday morning for my photo shoot in dad's garden this week, and there were quite a few treats in store for me.

The first was a group of these wonderful looking Buzzards (Buteo buteo), soaring majestically, high above our heads, gaining height by riding the thermals until they were only just visible as tiny specks.

As they were relatively low to the ground when we first spotted them directly overhead, it was a great opportunity to get a good shot of their beautiful under wing markings.

Blue Tit - March 2019

Next up was a more common garden bird, a Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), trying to hide from the camera by jumping from branch to branch in a nearby tree.

Bee Fly - March 2019

The Bee Fly (Bombylius major) is a fleeting visitor, and usually only appears in springtime for two or three weeks of the year, so I was quite pleased to see one so early in the year. Unfortunately, when I got closer to move the annoying blade of grass out of view, I spooked him, and he flew into a neighbouring garden, never to be seen again.

Mining Bee - March 2019

The warm sunshine was bringing more of my bug buddies out to play, and this Mining Bee (Andrena) was enjoying the delights of a Dandelion (Taraxacum) bloom.

Seedy Situation - March 2019

While some Dandelions were just beginning to open, others had already set seed, so I got in close to this one to have a good look at the individual seeds.

Freesia - March 2019

In the greenhouse, the mysterious Freesia (Freesia refracta) flower buds that I posted a picture of last week had opened up into these quite pretty yellow blooms.

Flowering Currant - March 2019

Back outside, the Flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum) flower buds had expedited their opening, and were putting on a beautiful display.

Lesser Celandine - March 2019

In the lawn, in a usually shady spot, there were quite a few Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna) blooms opening up as the sun passed over them.

Green Alkanet - March 2019

The dainty blue flowers of the Green Alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens) plants had returned, and made a welcome addition to the sources of pollen available, to help sustain the rapidly growing number of insects visiting the garden.

Red Robin Blossom - March 2019

It wouldn't be long before one of my favourite shrubs was in bloom, the Red Robin (Photinia fraseri) bush was loaded with lots and lots of flower buds that were almost ready to burst open.

Floriferous Forest Flame - March 2019

The Forest Flame (Pieris) bush was a little ahead of the Red Robin bush, and was already covered in these pretty little white blooms.

Beginning to Bloom - March 2019

The Blue Marguerite (Felicia amelloides) blooms were still defying whatever had eaten them in previous years, and were accelerating their rate of opening, so there'd soon be a pot full of beautiful blue blooms.

Catkin Stairway - March 2019

There were still plenty of Corkscrew Hazel (Corylus avellana Contorta) tree catkins on show, and the whole tree looked stunning against the beautiful blue sky.

So this week I went with Common Buzzard as my Image of the Week, simply because, although I see them quite often, it's very rare to get the opportunity to grab a shot of them while they are quite so close overhead...