Stephen Clayton

@stevepclayton

Retired (hurrah!) lecturer in sociology of public health, mostly now photography, silliness and political despair.

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Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· 27d

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Triplets, three of the same bird. ?Three red-rumped swallows on a wire preening themselves in the Kefalonian rain. #Birds #Photography

Three red-rumped swallows sitting on a telephone wire in the rain against a blurred background of tree foliage. The swallows are preening themselves in the rain.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· 29d

Lots of these down at Wigan Flashes this morning. A common blue damselfly and a blue-tailed damselfly. #damselflies #UKNature #Insects #Photography

A male common blue damselfly rests on a thin green leaf.

A male blue-tailed damselfly rests on the thin branch of a bush.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· 29d

Two themes today for #BirdOfTheDay; #Corvidae and the alternate #BlueSky. So here's a twofer - a hooded crow in the skies over Lourdata, Kefalonia last week. #Birds #Photography

A hooded crow, wings wide open, flies against a pale blue sky.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jul 16

A common white wave with added reflections. Taken this morning on my patio door in Wigan. #TeamMoth #MothsMatter #UKWildlife

A macro shot of a common white wave moth on the glass of a patio door. The double glazing means there are two reflections of the moth in the glass.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 26

A bone dry Clifford's Tower and reflections on the River Foss in #York yesterday. #Photography #Reflections #Landscape #Riverscape

A shot of Clifford's Tower in York taken from the road looking up at the tower. The grass of the mound the tower stands on is almost totally dry and straw coloured.

A shot of buildings reflecting on the River Foss in York taken from the bridge on Fossgate.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 26

#BirdOfTheDay alt theme is #ShowingOff so here's a blackcap showing off his peregrine-like diving skills 😏

A male blackcap dives out of the bottom right hand corner of the frame, wings fully folded back.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 26

Oh yeah!

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 26

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #GreyDay any bird with grey in its plumage. These are from the garden this morning. My favourite long-tailed tits, who turned up in a gang, and a juvenile wood pigeon.

Three long-tailed tits sit on the bars of a squirrel-proof bird feeder in the branches of an apple tree.

A juvenile wood pigeon sits on the branch of a bush in dappled sunlight.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 24

For #BirdOfTheDay alt theme #Birds&Bokeh, I just found this from 2022, but not sure if this is a female house sparrow or something else. Anyway, it has bokeh front and back.

Possible a female house sparrow sitting in the top branches of a large bush with bokeh in the foreground and background.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 23

For #BirdOfTheDay alt theme #White, a male eider looking good against the blue of the sea. #Birds #Photography #UKWildlife

A male eider duck in full breeding plumage swims across the surface of the sea.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 23

For #BirdOfTheDay theme #Touchdown, these just make me giggle.

A black-headed gull comes to land on the surface of a pond, its legs straight out underneath it just touching the surface, its wings spread wide and high.

A stock dove comes in to land on grass in the middle of a group of other birds. Its wings are unfolded back behind it, its legs stretched out to touch the ground. It almost looks like it has just leapt into the air with joy.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 23

For #PollinatorWeek

Bombus hynorum bumble bee flying into a rose, heavily laden with pollen.

A digger wasp emerging from the petals of a flower.

A holly blue butterfly hanging upside down on the a borage flower.

A "Batman" hoverfly (myathropa florea) its black and yellow colouring standing out against the blue, white and yellow of the morning glory flower it is standing on.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 22

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme, #BirdsInTheirElement, focuses on birds thriving in their habitat. A grey heron in its canal-side habitat.

A grey heron stalks its prey through reeds at the side of a canal.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 16

#BirdOfTheDay alt theme is #BlurBirds, blurry bird shots. So here's just one of many. I think it was a black tailed godwit taken in Zante, Greece. I guess it also meets the main theme of #InFlight. 😉 #Birds #Photography

A very blurred shot of what I think is a black-tailed godwit in flight.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 16

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #InFlight: from 2022 wigeon flying over Marshside, Southport and then coming into land. A black tailed godwit flies over them (which links to my alt theme contribution today), and a northern pintail - I think - in the background. #UKWildlife #Birds #Photography

A small flock of wigeon fly low over marshland in winter.

A small flock of wigeon come into land on the water of some marshes. In the background a northern pintail swims gently past and a black tailed godwit above the wigeon.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 14

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #SilentPresence Capturing moments where a bird appears calm, watchful, or contemplative rather than active. The alt is #Swans. So, here's a twofer. #UKWildlife #Birds #Photographu

A mute swan, its neck slightly curved as it looks slightly down at the water, swims serenely across the water of a lake.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 13

#BirdOfTheDay alt Theme is #Black&White, birds with Black & White in their plumage. Magpie time. #ukwikdlife #birds #photogaphy

A magpie flies left to right across the frame against a grey cloudy sky its wings slightly below its body and its tail stretched out behind it.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 13

Today's #BirdOfTheDay Theme is #Preeners&Scratchers, birds preening plumage or scratching, gives me the chance to use this - preening on the wing. #uknature #birds #photography

A gull flies with wings open against a blue-grey sky, shot from below, its head is turned around to face backwards as it preens feathers at the side of its body.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 12

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Stripes, any bird with stripes in their plumage. The striped head of a nuthatch and the striped wing patch of a male mallard. #uknature #birds #photography

A male male stands up in the water with its wings half unfolded as it spreads and flaps them to dry them off. The white strips and dark blue of its wing patches are clearly visible.

A nuthatch hops across the top of a tree stump in woodland where food has been left for wild birds.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 12

The alt #BirdOfTheDay theme is #UnexpectedNeighbours, Birds sharing a frame with another species, whether animal, insect, or human. A couple of cattle egrets with a white rhino and calf. #wildlife #photography

A white rhino stands in grassland with its calf whilst a cattle egret takes off in front of the calf, its wings spread and legs wide. Another cattle.egret.stands to the right of the adult rhino. Taken in Nairobi National Park, Kenya.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 11

‪Today's #BirdOfTheDay Theme is #Nesting, birds carrying nesting material, which I think is what this linnet was doing in the reed beds at Lunt Meadows. #ukwildlife #birdsky #birds #photography

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 10

For #BirdOfTheDay alt theme #LivingLandscape here's a little egret in the water at Marshside, Southport (slight cheat as there are some other birds slightly visible in the background).

A shot from a distance of a little egret as it hunts through the water of a pool in marshland.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 10

There have been some fantastic shots for today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme #TheGathering. Here's my contribution - guillemots and some kittiwakes on one of the Farne Islands from a couple of years ago (taken on my phone).

A shot of hundreds of guillemots scattered across a low lying part of the Farne Islands. In the foreground, also nest in on the rocks are a number of pairs of kittiwakes.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 6

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #BorrowedPlaces, Birds using human-made things to perch on. So, here's a little egret perched on the outboard motor of a moored boat in Faro harbour. #Birds #Photography #Portugal

A little egret stands on top of an outboard motor, which is covered as the boat is moored in a harbour. The shot is quite tightly framed just showing the egret and outboard motor against the water of the harbour which reflects evening light, and the lights of nearby buildings.

A wider angle shot of a little egret standing on the outboard motor of a moored small boat in the harbour in Faro, Portugal.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 5

For the #BirdOfTheDay theme of #LookingAtYou this whitethroat which seem to object to being snapped. #Birds #Photography

A whitethroat sits in the leafless branches of a shrub staring directly into the camera.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 5

For the alt #BirdOfTheDay theme today of #NewLife, a Canada gosling at the side of the canal this morning #Birds #Photography

A Canada gosling grazes among oxeye daisies.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 4

For today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme, #BadFeatherDay, here's a hamerkop from Kenya. #Birds #Photography

A hamerkop stands on sandy ground with its wing feathers all ruffled as it can't seem to get them in order. .

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 3

For today's #BirdOfTheDay theme of #FoodInBeaks a common tern. #Birds #Photography

A common tern flies through a blue sky its wings pointing down and looking directly at the camera. In its beak it is carrying a small fish it has just caught.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 2

A few contributions for #BirdOfTheDay theme #HiddenInPlainSight from #LuntMeadows this morning. #Birds #Photography

An adult whitethroat sitting on barbed wire partially obscured by high grass and other vegetation feeds its juvenile chick.

A reed warbler sits on a reed partially obscured by other reeds.

An adult sedge warbler facing the camera sits on a moss-covered branch partially obscured by other branches. It is feeding a juvenile chick whose back and right leg can be seen in the shot. The branch the juvenile is on has (possibly) jelly ear fungus growing underneath it.

A wood pigeon sits low on the branch of a tree partially obscured by other branches and leaves.

Stephen Clayton@stevepclayton· Jun 1

For #BirdOfTheDay Alt Theme is #Fringillidae a chaffinch on one leg for some reason. #Birds #Photography