Secret Garden - Mine

Despite a cool breeze and temperature of only 10 degrees centigrade, I was able to see an Orange Tip, Holly Blue and Small White butterflies in my garden on Friday. I didn't have a camera for the Orange Tip and stalking it with a phone just flushed it! 

Only the second Holly Blue Butterfly I've seen in my garden, I'll be better prepared for a good photo for third one

Small White Butterfly

Common Carder Bee

Greenfinch male

Blue Tit

Coal Tit

Tree Sparrow

Rook

Chaffinch male

A squadron of these Feral Pigeons visit my street, I'd rather have Collared Doves 

Long-billed Dowitcher moulting + Little Ringed Plover

Some more info later as it appears I agreed to dig up some of Olive's lawn. 

The insect identifications are my best effort using various online and book sources.

Click on the blue links below for videos

Long-billed Dowitcher moulting into summer plumage      Dowitcher, 4 clips from a longer video, spliced

Amorous Eiders      Black Swan, Slunks      Shelduck pair      White Wagtail      Gadwall drake at Murton

Little Ringed Plover north of East Haven, not expected there

Wheatear in the paddock at East Haven

Linnet

Different view and Linnet

The old female Dipper still going strong on the Brothock Burn at Danger Point

Honey Bee. Still a bit cold and breezy in my garden and not enough insects life to warrant a lens change, photos from a Nikon D500 and 500mm lens

Migrant Hoverfly

Gooden's Nomad Bee

Seven-spot Ladybird

A tiny Zebra Spider, identified by David Attenborough on his Secret Garden show

Chocolate Mining Bee Andrena scotica (was Clarke's)

East Haven birdlife survey April 2026

   
From the top down, my East Haven Webs Count for the BTO, Osprey, Black Swan and Ruff at the Lurgies, not much at St Cyrus, and a Swallow photo from Mains of Usan.

White Wagtail from my Webs at East Haven

Ringed Plover

Bar-tailed Godwit

Great black-backed Gull ringed yellow X-068

Redshanks and a Turnstone

Curlew

Redshank

Teal, male left, female right

Oystercatcher

Goldfinch at the Lurgies, Montrose Basin

Shelduck drake

Song Thrush in the car park

Osprey

Red Kite

Ruff with a Redshank, near to the Slunks

Whooper Swans in the Slunks

The first Canada Geese I've seen this year, and an accidental capture of the Black Swan top left

Fulmar at St Cyrus

A "wabbit" looking female Stonechat

Two Stock Doves appeared to be fighting high above the clifftops, it continued for around 5 minutes

Swallow on the wires at Mains of Usan