I was meant to be making a couple of raised beds at the meadow today (for spud-planting later this month) but I kept getting distracted by the antics of a couple of buzzards overhead #CommonBuzzard #Rahugh #Westmeath #Ireland

The Barn Owl continues to rule the night in the meadow (despite the rain), but last week, it had to share the perch with another predator. First appearance of a Long Eared Owl this year. #BarnOwl #LongEaredOwl #Rahugh #Westmeath #Ireland @birdwatchireland.bsky.social

Finally, the Common Snipe is back - it's been calling to this flooded part of the meadow at around the same time every night for the last 2 weeks. Those are willow saplings in the background that I planted over the winter. #Rahugh #CommonSnipe @birdwatchireland.bsky.social

I was wondering when the first frogspawn might appear in the meadow drain, and it looks like it might be a while longer... @birdwatchireland.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social #barnowl #frog #Rahugh #Westmeath #Ireland

Yellowhammers chilling on the 'Pea Perch' in the meadow in Rahugh earlier this winter. #yellowhammer #perch #Rahugh #Westmeath

After a bit of an absence, the barn owl has returned to using the high perch in the meadow, and has been hunting from it over the Xmas period. #BarnOwl #Rahugh #Westmeath #wildlife @birdwatchireland.bsky.social

I've a trailcam set up by a wet area in the meadow to record Common snipe but they haven't appeared yet. But it captured a thrush and a fieldfare - a winter migrant from Scandinavia. #fieldfare #thrush #westmeath #ireland #rahugh #wildmeadow

A new visitor to this perch in the meadow. It can see a faint reflection of itself in the trail cam, hence the bemusement. #trailcam #greycrow #Rahugh #Westmeath #Ireland

I repaired the high perch in the meadow this week after it fell down, and look who came back first. @birdwatchireland.bsky.social #BarnOwl #Rahugh #Westmeath #Ireland #trailcam

Frost on grass

A hand holding a piece of ice from a puddle in front of a meadow and a blue sky

The equinox has passed and the first frost of the season has appeared at the meadow #Rahugh #Westmeath #Ireland #wildmeadow #equinox #frost #seasons #autumn

A juvenile bullfinch wondering when it will be fed next (recorded back in June) #juvenile #fledgling #bullfinch #bird #Rahugh #Westmeath #Ireland @birdwatchireland.bsky.social

Someone has finally discovered the perch I built for them (and has used it all week) ! A Common Buzzard surveying the meadow below, on Monday afternoon. #CommonBuzzard #Rahugh #Westmeath @birdwatchireland.bsky.social

A pair of willow warblers in the meadow a couple of weeks ago (video slowed to 50%) #WillowWarbler #bird #Rahugh #Westmeath #Ireland #meadow @birdwatchireland.bsky.social

You wait all year to see a 22-spot ladybird and then 17 of them show up all at once! I have a small , raised bed at the meadow to grow peas and a colony of Psyllora vigintiduopunctata seem to have made it their home. #22-spotladybird #rahugh #westmeath #ireland

There's only room for one wren on this perch!
#wren #troglodytestroglodytes #dreoilín #rahugh #westmeath #ireland #biodiversity #birding #ireland #nature

Female Brown Hawker dragonfly laying eggs onto a piece of floating wood in a shallow pool of water last Sunday in Rahugh, Co. Westmeath #BrownHawker #dragonfly #rahugh #westmeath #ireland

Back in May, I could hear a male blackcap calling in the meadow. Last week, the fruits of his endeavour were clear: a female blackcap feeding a juvenile female - I'm not sure what sort of berry she has. #blackcap #rahugh #westmeath #ireland #birds @birdwatchireland.bsky.social

First new potatoes this year, and very tasty they were, too. #newpotatoes #Westmeath #Rahugh #Ireland

I made a perch overlooking my meadow in the hope that it would attract predators, and so it did. Look at the talons on the long-eared owl . Next time, I'll try to adjust the trail cam so it doesn't over-expose the birds at night. @birdwatchireland.bsky.social #LongEared #Owl #Rahugh #Westmeath

I see buzzards every week in the midlands - either one the side of the Galway-Dublin motorway or over the fields. Long may it last. #CommonBuzzard #Rahugh #Westmeath #Ireland #biodiversity #nature #birds

Note how the tail in angled to manouevre as the bird makes a series of slow turns over the meadow #CommonBuzzard #Rahugh #Westmeath #Ireland #biodiversity #nature #birds

At one point, a pair of swallows tried to 'intercept' them, but the buzzards didn't pay too much attention to them. Likewise, they pay little attention to the regular attention from the neighbouring crows which improbably why they have flourished #CommonBuzzard #Rahugh #Westmeath #Ireland

I grew up here and, as a child of the 70s, I never remember seeing a Buzzard. They do seem to have adapted to modern farming practices (they do like 'mopping up' after a field has been cut for silage) #CommonBuzzard #Rahugh #Westmeath #Ireland #biodiversity #nature #birds

One of a pair of Common Buzzards soaring over the fields in Rahugh, Co. Westmeath last Friday, on one of the hottest days of the year so far. @birdwatchireland.bsky.social #CommonBuzzard #Rahugh #Westmeath #Ireland #biodiversity #nature #birds

Early morning song thrush @birdwatchireland.bsky.social #songthrush #rahugh #westmeath #ireland

Young bullfinch getting a feed from Dad - recorded on the same perch as the previous clip. @birdwatchireland.bsky.social #bullfinch #rahugh #westmeath #ireland #birds #fledged

A yellowhammer battling the wind and singing up a storm. #yellowhammer #rahugh #westmeath #birds #ireland @birdwatchireland.bsky.social @irishwildlifetrust.bsky.social

A swallow swooping over a meadow catching insects that I've let grow wild. They are nesting in a shed next to the field. #swallow #westmeath #rahugh #ireland

A young wren that has recently left the nest being fed by its parent. These wrens will require constant feeding for a couple of weeks and will chirp constantly to 'nag' for more food. Notice that as soon as it gets a mouthful, it starts chirping again! #wren #fledged #Rahugh #Westmeath #Dreolín

A chaffinch in full song yesterday - the hedgerow was a bit crowded with chaffinches marking their territories. #chaffinch #RíRua #Fringillacoelebs #Rahugh #Westmeath #Ireland