Archived & Upcoming Images of the Day
We see very few frogs these days, so were rather pleased when this one leapt out of the way of Marie walking down to the greenhouse. All the frogs we see seem to be this light yellow-green colour.
.jpg)
A Pipistrelle bat in flight at night (see 14 Oct 2008 for unexpected daytime visit). We have discovered yet another loft access hole (that looks too small even for a bat but we have watched them use it). Unfortunately the Long-eared bats didn't show this year.
.jpg)
We think this must be a juvenile male kestrel but are not very sure. Anyway - why all this hovering nonsense when we can hunt from the phone wires!
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
The morning was drenched with dew, with hundreds of webs down the 100m east fence now overgrown with Blackthorn. Most of the webs are disorganised tangles but about 10% take some classic form, as here, complete with builder and natural dew.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
We put the moth trap out on a misty moonlit night (neither good for catching moths). Something gave the trap a thump in the night and partly knocked the top off, but there were still about 100 moths inside of which this rather attractive iridescent creature took our fancy.
 (rgb) (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg)
The buzzard (largest bird) was hounded for several minutes by this rabble of corvids until it got high enough on the thermal that they didn't follow. There were no attacks either way - sheer weight of numbers was enough to decide who won.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
We are normally pleased to see just one jay fleeing from us, but here 3 flew by some 10's of metres away. The one on the left was not quite so well aligned, so we couldn't resist tweaking his position.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
A little sweetie that is a genuine single frame.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Return of the/a polecat. This is the second of 2 images of maybe/maybe not the same animal, and shows the whole creature.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
In some long grass we came across this cricket, body about 2cm long. One of our e-mail recipients suggests that is a Roesel's Bush-Cricket (Metrioptera roeselii) which seems to be correct and is a new sighting this year for this area.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
The pheasants 'disappeared' when the adjacent meadow was cut. We saw the female a few days ago, and now the male has appeared perfectly judging camera frame and timing for the falling leaf.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Domestic bliss before its even properly dark (NOT a montage).
.jpg)
We often mention corvids mobbing of Buzzards, and here is a single frame with the bird surrounded by rooks, and what looks like a Jackdaw persuing it.
.jpg)
In a sheltered little bramble thicket a number of Comma butterflies were sunning themselves.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
On the last of the recent warm days this beauty was still on the wing. We last showed you some indoor shots on 5 September - these are a more natural (if technically more limited) views,
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Spoilt for choice ...
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Several views of Muntjac deer in the past week, this one a male with lovely new antlers. Bounding past us rather than the usual 'away from us' for the female in the image for 1 Oct 2008.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
45 minutes before sunset this single pipistrelle bat spent at least 15 minutes over the ponds and rough grass hunting insects. Good for us for some pictures of a species so small and fast that it is hard to get anything at night, but not so good for the bat who must be very hungry to come out so early. He seemed to get a good feed. Didn't see him/her the next evening.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
On a dingy afternoon we left the photo-kits running and these 2 Juvenile moorhen have discovered the easy-pickings at this site, appearing in about a half-dozen photos.
.jpg)
Our last polecat 'sighting' was on 23 Feb 2005 at about 4 a.m and is
on the main site in the as
Part of the Mammals section
This new one-off image was at the corner of the site where a few days
ago we did some work to improve access from the field side. This time
it was at 03:35 - maybe their favourite time to be about.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
This is the only 'Ruddy Darter' dragonfly we have seen on our patch and was a rather old and darkened individual on possibly his last day with the weather cooling down. He sat quietly in the sunshine on a leaf as we took his portrait and later flew off
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
The sparrowhawk seem to be getting the same treatment from the rooks as the buzzards and kestrels. Being bigger than the kestrel it puts up more resistance, but not as casually as the even larger buzzard. This is a montage of 3 images (dozens of frames apart - don't try to read anything into the action). The top helps with identification and the bottom two give an idea of the action.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Rafts of Great Willow herb are in seed, looking like thousands of tiny parachutes. It seems that as it opens the seed 'hairs' get stretched out. to form almost panels of silky material before the wind carries them away.
.jpg)
Once high enough for the rooks not to bother harassing them, these disagreeable birds squabble amongst themselves! Love the aerodynamic stress bending the upper bird's primary feathers.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
At one point on Thursday (same day as this was taken) there were 6 buzzards riding a thermal over the area. But the rooks harassed any at 'low' altitude.
.jpg)
A trudge over our neighbours field found a few items we have not seen on our patch. Among them was just one tiny clump of poppies of which this is one flower.
.jpg)
Speckled wood butterflies are the dominant butterfly species here this year - here on hawthorn.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
More rodents doing acrobatics - right at the right edge of the frame. Did the mouse land ON the vole? There is a blackthorn shoot just to the right at the back of the log we suspect the mouse is jumping down from.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
The Kestrels are having a bad time with a flock of a few hundred mixed Corvids in the area, and at the moment rarely manage more than a minute or two hunting before being mobbed.
.jpg)
A rabbit is giving this snail a close inspection, but the only risk to the snail is if the rabbit accidentally treads on it.
.jpg)
The usual response of a Muntjac deer to the first scent or sight of a human is to flee. This one bounding along a well flattened trail in the grass along the hedge. The teats indicate that she is probably feeding a fawn somewhere.
 bounding away(r+mb id@576).jpg)