Trevor Sparrow Donnington Shropshire

Tuesday 30th June: Cinnabar Moth

Tuesday 30th June: These caterpillars have appeared today and are eating as much as they can!

Tuesday 30th June: The RAF appear to be conducting a mock air battle above our house.

Friday 26th June: last night's moon and passing jet

Friday 26th June : the potatoes are coming along nicely

Friday 26th June: Meadow Brown Butterfly

Wednesday 24th June. With an almighty bang this thrush flew into one of our windows. For a while it lay motionless, then sat on its legs gently rocking while supporting itself on its beak. After a while it recovered and was able to hop then fly away. A lucky escape as it could easily have killed itself.

Wednesday 24th June: A friendly looking moth or butterfly - it must be the big eyes and general fluffiness!

Tuesday 23rd June: Not sure what the ants are up to, but they seem to be taking great interest in the aphids.

Tuesday 23rd June: The lavender attracts lots of creatures, including this seven spot ladybird.

Tuesday 23rd June: A bee inflight between the lavender flowers

Tuesday 23rd June The bees are very keen on the lavender

Tuesday 23rd June Small white butterfly

Monday 22nd June: Meadow Brown Butterfly

Monday 22nd June: Newly finished homemade archery target.

Monday 22nd June: Newly finished homemade archery target - first few arrows at just over 35 yards.

Saturday 20th June: A hornet, much maligned as they are much less aggressive than wasps and if left alone will quickly move away.

Saturday 20th June: A hornet, giving a friendly way and a smile

Saturday 20th June: A hornet, very quick moving and difficult to photograph in flight.

Saturday 20th June: Hornet,

Saturday 20th June: Field archery practice. Wesley kindly provided this picture of me perched on a stump and just about to shoot.

Saturday 20th June: Field archery practice. This is Sheila, using a horsebow to shoot at a short range badger target.

Saturday 20th June: Field archery practice. The same short range badger target, but a deferent style of bow, Sam is using a Longbow

Saturday 20th June: I like the expression on this owl's face - it seems a bit surprised to have been shot!

Saturday 20th June: Wesley is shooting at two targets, a cobra at about 18 yards and a hyena at about 46 yards.

Saturday 20th June: Wesley is shooting at a fox target using his flatbow.

Wednesday 17th June: A young long tailed tit launches itself into the air.

Wednesday 17th June: A young long tailed tit

Wednesday 17th June: A Wood Warbler?

Tuesday 16th June: Spotted Flycatcher

Tuesday 16th June: Moth with blue eyes...the Frank Sinatra Moth?

Tuesday 16th June: Wren

Tuesday 16th June: A Robin

Monday 15th June: A deadly game of hide and seek on a nettle leaf as a seven spot ladybird hunts down the aphids.

Monday 15th June: A deadly game of hide and seek on a nettle leaf as a ladybird hunts down the aphids.

Monday 15th June: Ichneumonid wasp, possibly sabre wasp Rhyssa pesuasoria

Monday 15th June: After the rain, a rainbow

Monday 15th June: The Red Admiral

Monday 15th June: The Roses are thriving

Sunday 14th June: After the rain, mist rising from the hot ground

Sunday 14th June: After the rain

Saturday 13th June: The robin

Saturday 13th June: Speckled wood butterfly on the apples

Saturday 13th June: Lacewing?

Saturday 13th June: Fly on the flag irises

Friday 12th June: When the river Severn is low it is possible to picnic on the sandbar just beyond the bridge at Atcham.

Friday 12th June:The bridges over the Severn at Atcham

Friday 12th June: The churchyard of St Eata's 11th Century church at Atcham

Friday 12th June: The Severn at Atcham

Thursday 8th June: I've shown this tree before when one element of it bloomed, but now see it in its full glory. It's actually two separate trees entwined, so you get two different flowers in the same place. It also smells fantastic.

Tuesday 9th May: The wasps are getting busy. They seem to be building a nest in the eves of the garage, a steady stream of wasps can be seen coming and going through a small gap in the woodwork. Some arrive carrying small grubs in their mouths, stocking up the food supply perhaps.

Monday 8th June: The squirrel is a master of camouflage. Only its eye is visible, as it watches from behind the grass. Forgot about that great big bushy tail did you, not so secret squirrel?

Monday 8th June: The baby jackdaw has blue eyes. The adults have yellow eyes.

Sunday 7th June: Viv and Al our near neighbours stopped to say hello and a certain inquisitive little fellow nearly fell out of the car window in his eagerness to have his picture taken!

Sunday 7th June: These oaks must be centuries old and are enormous, but somehow you just don't notice them as you drive past.

Sunday 7th June: A very tattered Speckled Wood butterfly.

Sunday 7th June: These caterpillars are gorging themselves on the nettles.

Saturday 6th June: Not truly locked down, but definitely socially distanced...Bowbrook's first field shoot of 2020. This target is a leopard about 56 metres away, downhill. One of the day's longer range shots. You can see Joerg and Jonathan shooting in a more traditional manner, i.e. no sights or stabilisation. In Jonathan's case its a wooden longbow with wooden arrows, old school! For contrast I have tried to give an impression of what I see through the sight of my compound bow and finally the target itself with my arrows in it.

Thursday 4th June: Pheasant amongst the growing crops

Thursday 4th June: This sheepdog has left the farmer to deal with the sheep on his own and wandered off. We can hear the farmer shouting for the dog to come back, several fields away, but the dog seems to other ideas.

Thursday 4th June: A spotted flycatcher

Wednesday 3rd June: The fox watches from the top of the hill

Wednesday 3rd June: Sheep against the sunset

Wednesday 3rd June: Shrewsbury in the sunset

Wednesday 3rd June: The swans have moved to a different pond about a quarter mile away. Presumably they walked as the cygnets are too small to fly. I suspect the new pond has more shade and is cooler, so worth the walk.

Wednesday 3rd June: Four Birds, homeward bound at sunset

Wednesday 3rd June: Oystercatchers, a long way from the sea shore

Tuesday 2nd June: The wheat fields are like thickets at the moment

Tuesday 2nd June: Variable Damsel fly

Monday 1st June: A Fed-Ex flight on its way somewhere...not the Moon

Monday 1st June: A rook

Monday 1st June: A lapwing

Monday 1st June: The Ilford Envoy was an slightly unusual Bakelite box camera sold by Ilford from c.1953-1960. The Envoy was made in Birmingham, UK for Ilford by Photo Developments Ltd. The camera featured a curved film plane, which compensated for some of the deficiencies of the cheap lens, and (like several Ilford cameras of the period) could take both 620 and 120 film spools. To load the film, a catch in the base rotated, the top was removed carrying the spools and film guides, leaving the bottom box with the shutter and lens.

Sunday 31st May: A dead tree at the top of Charlton hill...can you see a giant eel .....?

Sunday 31st May: The Elan emerges from the garage for the first time in ages.

Friday 29th May: Lapwing

Friday 29th May: Rabbit

Thursday 28th May: Dragonfly

Thursday 28th May: Damselfly

Wednesday 27th May: A tawny owl atop a telegraph pole in the darkness.

Wednesday 27th May: The blackbird seems to be finding plenty of insects in the pond.

Tuesday 26th May: A closer look at tonight's crescent moon

Tuesday 26th May: The crops are high enough to hide most of the hare, just the head shows, making them hard to spot

Tuesday 26th May: the buzzard

Tuesday 26th May: hunting for insects amongst the oil seed plants

Monday 25th May: A heron heads for home at sunset

Monday 25th May: Fox searching the hedgerow.

Monday 25th May: Spectacular cloud formations, not flying saucers!

Monday 25th May: Mute Swan

Sunday 24th May: The swan family are feeding together at the edge of the pond. The five cygnets all look well.

Sunday 24th May: A rook

Sunday 24th May: A crow

Saturday 23rd May: Looking towards Wroxeter, with Shrewsbury in the distance.

Saturday 23rd May: The valley of the Severn from Charlton Hill

Saturday 23rd May: Buzzard

Saturday 23rd May: Yesterday evening, looking towards the Wrekin from Charlton Hill

Friday 22nd May: Cinnabar moth

Thursday 21st May: A yellowhammer? It's yellow...or perhaps a yellow wagtail?

Thursday 21st May: The crows are very protective of this patch of field. They are picking over it and eating something, perhaps beetles or worms. Anything that comes near is driven away.

Thursday 21st May: The crows gang up on the kestrel and drive it from its favorite perch.

Tuesday 19th May: The fox was hunting for voles and mice in the field which used to be popular with the owls.

Tuesday 19th May: A Goldfinch poses on top of the traffic mirror

Tuesday 19th May: A duck flying low over the pond

Tuesday 19th May: The swans now have five cygnets to look after.

Monday 18th May: The Hare can hear the camera, but can't see where I am, so I watch him for several minutes.

Monday 18th May: Still waiting...

Monday 18th May: The hare runs for it...

Monday 18th May: The hare pauses a little further away, then is gone.

Monday 18th May: A pheasant breaks from cover

Monday 18th May: A glimpse of a fox hiding in the field of oil seed rape.

Sunday 17th May: Looking out over the valley of the Severn. We seem to have a lot of sky in Shropshire...

Friday 15th May: Hang gliders over the Wrekin.

Friday 15th May: Hang gliders over the Wrekin. This is the communications tower that serves most of this area.

Friday 15th May: Wroxeter Roman city. The stonework in the foreground is original, part of the portico. The house is a modern reconstruction undertaken for a Channel 4 documentary.

Friday 15th May: Wroxeter Roman city. The stonework in the foreground was originally the shopping centre of the city. The higher stonework in the background was the entrance to the Roman baths complex.

Friday 15th May: Wroxeter Roman city. The stonework in the foreground is original, part of the portico. The house is a modern reconstruction undertaken for a Channel 4 documentary.

Friday 15th May: Red legged partridge.

Friday 15th May: Red legged partridge, with a chunk of feathers missing from its neck. Perhaps a lucky escape from a predator?

Friday 15th May: Red legged partridge.

Thursday 14th May: Small white butterfly

Thursday 14th May: Cinnabar moth

Thursday 14th May: Variable Damselfly

Thursday 14th May: A rabbit and a crow sit out in the evening sun

Thursday 14th May: the pheasant

Thursday 14th May: The call of the pheasant - two loud clucks followed by a whir of feathers and dust.

Wednesday 13th May: Pewit attacking the buzzard, note how ragged the hawk's feathers are in places.

Wednesday 13th May: Ducks chase a buzzard

Wednesday 13th May: Hare by the pond

Wednesday 13th May: A hare on the run

Wednesday 13th May: Blue tit on a weeping willow

Wednesday 13th May: Greylag Goose

Wednesday 13th May: Blackbird

Tuesday 12th May: The Kestrel is out hunting in the fields and has caught a rat, which it has taken back to its favourite perch on the top of the electricity poles.

Tuesday 12th May: Spotted Flycatcher. The spotted flycatcher is a medium-sized songbird of open woodland, parks and gardens. It has a relatively long tail, which it flicks while it sits patiently on a perch waiting for a chance to fly out and catch its insect-prey mid-air. During the breeding season, spotted flycatchers can be seen across the UK, but they leave here in August for their wintering grounds in tropical Africa. Passage migrants can be seen in September. (Description from Shropshire Wildlife website)

Tuesday 12th May: Bird photobombing?

Monday 11th May: Happiness is a beak full of bugs!

Monday 11th May: A Duck heads for home in the dusk.

Monday 11th May: Squirrel in motion.

Monday 11th May: The unmistakable silhouette of a hawk, in this case a Kestrel.

Monday 11th May: Blackbird.

Sunday 10th May: A Blue Tit foraging for insects in a Weeping Willow.

Sunday 10th May: A Robin gets the dramatic treatment!

Sunday 10th May: Happiness is a beak full of bugs for a Blackbird.

Saturday 9th May. In the night the "May Bugs" appeared. The Common Cockchafer is a form of scarab beetle. It lives underground for most of its life, emerging in May. It is drawn to light and bumps against lamps and lighted windows.

Friday 8th May: In the nearby village of Cressage the War Memorial has been decorated to celebrate the 75th anniversary of VE Day.

Friday 8th May: Wood Pigeon

Thursday May 7th: The night is over, the moon setting in the morning.

Thursday May 7th: Last night's moon rising.

Thursday May 7th: Hares in the evening light

Thursday 7th May: Last night's moon rising over the pond.

Thursday 7th May: Greylag geese flying low over the pond

Wednesday 6th May: An evening feel to today's pictures. The sun setting and two geese heading for home in the twilight.

Tuesday May 5th: A squirrel retrieves a nut buried in the grass and heads for cover as fast as he can go. There are hawks about and it pays to be cautious.

Tuesday May 5th: Orange tip butterfly

Tuesday May 5th: The hedge is gradually hiding the "Give Way" sign in the lane.

Moday 4th May: Small Tortoiseshell butterfly on a Dandelion

Sunday 3rd May, Mute Swan on the pond.

Sunday 3rd May Abandoned Greenhouse, near Dryton.

Sunday 3rd May. Abandoned Farm machinery near Dryton.

Sunday 3rd May, near Dryton. Shakespeare's "Golden lads and girls all must, As chimney sweepers come to dust". The rain has caused an explosion of dandelions in the fields.

Cloudburst over the Wrekin, seen from Charlton Hill.

This rainbow came out just as the Nation was applauding the NHS. This is the field where the owl is most regularly seen, although on this occasion the rain had kept them indoors.

A pair of Grey Partridges hiding in the field as the rain pours down

Red Legged Partridge

This little princess is Emily, who we met, out for a walk with her Mum.

The remains of Roman Wroxeter, once the fourth largest city in Britain. Now little remains. The night's rain had led to an explosion of Dandelions in the field in front of the reconstruction of a Roman house and the original ruins.

Blue tit in flight against a dark background.

The view looking towards Donnington, Wroxeter and in the distance Shrewsbury

Farm building at Eyton on Severn.