Red Arrows

Went up to Cranwell on Friday as the Red Arrows are still doing their winter training.  They are up six times a day five days a week training with thorough de-briefs after each sortie.

On Friday they had a 'seven ship' up, getting closer to the 'nine ship' formations due in March.  You will note that the leader had a different livery to the rest...

And they're off!

Off to catch each other up...

..and form a seven man ship 

how's that for CLOSE formation flying! 

passing by literally overhead 

going inverted! 

Going vertical...against a leaden sky 

checking out different formations 

inverted again before going into a corkscrew.. 

..halfway round the corkscrew 

swinging around and coming at me head on

tight formation ..you can see where Red 8 & 9 will fit 

some more formation flying 

you can clearly see the markings on the 'belly' of the jets 

lights on and bringing it around again 

The leader in the Union flag livery

inverted again..

smokin.. 

head on flypast

and spectacular crosses,, 

on with the afterburner 50ft off the ground.. 

time for fun and they split in all directions..

A view of the leaders livery 

all back on terra firma together..

and taxying back to the pad with the haze from the exhaust vents shimmering

Top Gun

A few weeks back i was passing by Conningsby on a very grey cloudy day.  I thought I'd pop in to have a look at what was going on...

Our front line fighter ..the Typhoon aka the Euro fighter

Ship BW awaiting the call as a glint of sunshine breaks through the gloom

The fighters being prepped 

A grand sight, all lined up on the 'Pan' 

The pilots have taken their seat...soon it will be canopies down 

Taking his seat..

Final checks..

Two on board this one..rolling away

heading towards the runway..heat haze from the exhaust 

Away to who knows where, the ranges in Scotland or the valleys of Wales.. ? 

An early bird returns...his chute deployed 

as for the rest...it's full speed ahead and u and away into the Lincolnshire gloom...

A view from Frampton..

RSPB Frampton Marsh is my nearest RSPB reserve..and it's very good!  Just 25mins away it's very handy for popping along too to see what's about.  There are very large colonies of Brent Geese, Canada Geese and Golden Plover (thousands of each) all sharing the reserve with flocks of Lapwings, Swans and assorted ducks and geese including Tufted Duck, Coot, Moorhen, Goldeneye, Shelduck, Teal, Widgeon, Pintails etc etc.  Infact, you never know what your going to see as the reserves habitats include Reed Beds, Lagoons, Pasture, Farmland and then there is the 'Wash'.

Here's just a few of it's local inhabitants

A regular sight...large flocks of Lapwings

The unmistakeable sight of a Curlew in flight

A popular wader here..A Redshank

A silhoueted Redshank on a late Frampton afternoon

A Little Egret...pausing for thought

A juvenile Ruff, my first

A less than common Barnacle goose

Again, a first for me..a Corn Bunting

Now this pic has quite a rare bird on it, and obviously a first for me.  The bird third in from the right is a 'Richardsons Canada Goose' - a sub species of the Canada Goose.  You can see that it looks like a Canada Goose but is smaller, has a shorter beak and a grey chest.  This is a rare visitor to Frampton is is rare to Britain full stop.

A female Reed Bunting

A flight of Cormorants

Redshank, doing what Waders do...Wading!

A beautiful Yellowhammer ..photographed this weekend

A flight of Canada Geese over Frampton late afternoon