Mick Bourke.'s photostream  

The Blue tit is the most common resident tit over most of Europe, especially in the west. They are typically woodland birds but have adapted well to living in close association with man. They are common, colourful, noisy, tame birds.Blue Tits nest in holes on trees or in walls but will readily use other, man-made objects. In Ireland at the moment, birds are nesting in several post-boxes and in traffic lights at busy junctions. Blue Tits seem to have benefited from the 'smoking ban'...many bars have erected wall mounted ash trays for their smoking customers and Blue Tits have discovered these.

Smaller than a Chaffinch, this brightly-coloured finch has become a familiar sight at garden nut feeders in recent years. Striking black and yellow wings usually catch the eye first, but the scarlet red "face" and black and white head markings are equally striking, set off against a rather plain brown back and whitish underside. The tail is black with white spots and the rump white. Very active, has a bounding flight and can occur in large flocks.

Dating back to 1810, when it was built by the Lambert family, Castle Ellen is situated on 33 acres of land, 13.5 miles from Galway City and 2.5 miles from Athenry. The house is located in a beautiful woodland setting. It is a haven of tranquility, where one can enjoy a sense of timelessness and connection to nature.The aim of the proprietor, Mr Michael Keaney, is to maintain the house as close as possible to the way it was at the end of the 19th century. Michael bought Castle Ellen in 1974, when it was in an advanced state of disrepair. He has since made super-human efforts to restore it to some of its former glory, and under his auspices the house has been home to many artists, sculptors, and poets, and provides an oasis of calm and reflection in the busy modern world.

800 images taken over one hour at 5 sec intervals using an intervalometer, put together in LR using a timelapse plugin.

Sign of our times these days..