Grey Partridge. This male of a pair gave fantastic views and were a great sketching subject in Rogerstown last weekend. Both fed along the edge of a crop field and seemed unconcerned by me. Hope to get out again for some more painting soon, the area looks fantastic and with all the management over recent months I am sure it will only get better. The young Peregrine below was another great subject. It spent the morning preening and enjoying the morning sun opposite the south hide. With the 60x scope it was possible to see all the detail. I can never get enough of birds of prey when they show this well!

These mandarin ducks were displaying in my local park on sunday evening. Upto 14 have been present since January, with atleast 6 present recently. The gorgeous colours, patterns and displaying postures were great to try and capture on paper. In the few parts of pond where the sun reached, the oranges glowed and the black breast and mantle showed fantastic purple and blue sheens. Hopefully they hang around for the summer breed this year.