Archived & Upcoming Images of the Day
In prolonged cold weather birds use snow to bath in like they do dust in the summer.
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This Robin has found a corn grain under the snow. Small birds desperately need a reliable source of food in cold weather, and a continuous supply of grain, nuts, peelings, blocks of vegetable oil and whatever unsalted items you have will keep them alive and visiting.
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By chance we ended up with some images which cover 7hrs of snow laying at the site of an infrared beam. We have turned these into this 6 slice left to right scan.
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1 or 2 pairs of Mallard duck are now regularly visiting the ponds in the mornings and evenings. But it started with these 4 pairs back on 8 Feb 2005. The moorhen are not pleased and hang around sulking.
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First ever sighting here of a Polecat. It photographed itself 3 times within 10 minutes around 4 a.m. 22 Feb 2005. This is the only view of the face showing the facial mask. The mask is rather light and identification has been questioned, but we now have two confirmations that it is a genuine Polecat in Winter coat.
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Rabbits contribute about a third of the pictures taken by the automatic cameras. This one with a mouth full of apple peel is a little more interesting than the usual head down eating or a blur of panic.
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About weekly we take a panorama from a North facing upstairs window. This is the left section taken at about midday Saturday 19 Feb 2005. You may need to pan sideway to see it all.
Not for the squeamish! On 28 Apr 2003 we got a whole series of images of herons feasting on frogs. Also seen as early as mid-February but not this year yet. More such feasts including Great Crested Newt on the Home Page > Birds > Herons.
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On 22 Feb 2002 we found this mossy nest in a hedge we were working on.
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Most of the bird boxes are now being 'inspected'. On 20 feb 2000 this tree sparrow was checking out a nest box on what was then a living elm, now sadly a pole for the same nest box - this is the one that got 'modified' by the woodpeckers.
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Male Blackbird wings upraised and about to depart after a feed on this frosty dawn.
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At this time of year we often see robin pairs with (presumably) the male doing vertical launches followed by tumbling to earth and a last-minute pull out. Must impress the girls! Poor quality photo but of interest.
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A pair of Magpies frequent the plot. Not too popular with us because they feed their brood on the first moorhen eggs or chicks, but you have to admire their tenacity.
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Goldfinches are usually an early winter visitor to our teasels, but this lone bird arrived and stuffed him/herself with seeds in the left-over heads. This image from a sequence shows the chaff dropping from the beak as it frees the kernel.
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This robin must be almost stationary in the air to be this sharp with a 0.001 second flash. The Great Tit is about to get a surprise.
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A Feast - a whole corn grain.
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Fascinating angle to see a bird launching into the air. How we envy the agility but not the reasons he might have been taking off to avoid.
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Great Tit in beautiful condition.
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The ultimate in exotic (pheasant male) takes precedence over the dowdy little blackbird hen, Original image - not a composite.
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This has to be a 'pair' of robins. In our experience if you see two robins that are not fighting then they are deeply in love!
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Song thrush with unusually light markings.
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Hen Blackbird just taken off from the log feeding area.
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A Robin poised for takeoff
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At the log feeding station here are two great tits (bottom left) and two Blue tits stuffing themselves with apple.
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Robin singing (imagine the sound!) in a hedge top. Taken 23 Jan 2000 but just as relevant to today.
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Montage of 2 images from the same night of (possibly the same) fieldmouse (wood mouse) carrying off apple peel.
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About weekly we take a panorama from a North facing upstairs window. This is the middle section taken at midday. You may need to pan sideway to see it all.
One of the moorhen prospecting the ponds for a nesting site.
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