A rare chance to see and sketch a dark-eyed junco in a residential area of Hartlepool today. This is a North American species off course in this cold April. Who knows when it arrived and what route it took? Fascinating to ponder and a lovely bird to watch. It was very fluffed up at times in this unseasonably cold weather.
This was time away from preparation for my Spring Bank Holiday annual exhibition at Gilling East village hall. See poster below and Exhibition page in menu above.
Our first house martin arrived this morning. In 2022/23/24 the first house martin has touched down on 26th April. Wonderful to have house martins under the eaves again the start of their entertaining antics from now until September! More on the house martins soon. But for now I try to imagine the sights this bird has seen since it left in the middle of September 2023.
Jonathan Pomroy 