Archived & Upcoming Images of the Day
This may a pair of robins, but might also be rivals skirmishing.
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This pair of mallard ducks found this site during frozen weather, and turned up on most evenings in the following weeks.
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This pair of Mallard ducks were circling the plot (waiting for us to leave) and for a moment flew atypically close together. This montage (at ether 5 to 7 fps) has each unmodified image of the pair arbitrarily spaced.
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The pair had another male 'tagging along' - here a moment with all 3 close together.
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A buzzard made this lovely flyby along the line of the brook,
just staying line-of-site above the high voltage cables.
This is part 1 of the flight ...
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A buzzard made this lovely flyby along the line of the brook,
just staying line-of-site above the high voltage cables.
This is part 2 with the last image from the previous montage repeated.
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A detail from the second montage
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Rook descending from the mains wires - accurately spaced at 7fps. The white space is where the panning camera did not cover the background.
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A pair of Long-tailed Tits have arrived to breed again this year (we hope). We have only spotted one pair for the moment but they are so quick at everything they do there is a good chance we have missed others.
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Just after dawn the whistle of wings turned our eyes skywards just in time to enjoy this juvenile Mute Swan flying over our patch, swinging round in a circle and then flying on. The montage below had no reference points to make the spacings accurate.
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As this majestic juvenile Mute Swan departed we felt as always that the feet belong on a different creature!
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The starlings and woodpeckers really don't get on - here the female woodpecker.
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5 days later we have an almost identical situation but with the male woodpecker and a starling.
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20 minutes later the female woodpecker is being rather more assertive?
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One of the Grey Squirrel drays (where they sleep) is visible in a bare deciduous tree, but here must be others hidden in the evergreens. Anyway, after a cold night we see this squirrel is laying in some extra bedding from the extensive leaf litter. Why it popped up the tree stump when already fully loaded we have no idea.
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Male Chaffinch with his beak gradually turning blue ready for the breeding season flying low across the photo site. It was chasing another bird you just catch on the right edge on the frame.
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The Mallard drakes (males) have now taken to squabbling over the
females at the various ponds.
Male mallards have a quiet little quack.
The female (here with beak open) produces a raucous racket - lungs of brass!
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This view of the underside of the female mallard ducks beak shows how it fits inside the upper beak. The serrated edges combine to form a strainer for extracting food when dabbling.
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Around sunset a lovely crisp image of the a male chaffinch taking off. Note the beak has a slight tinge of blue as he starts changing into breeding condition.
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An hour after sunset a frolicking mouse possibly showing off to the one on the ground.
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First badger at a high quality image site for months, and a beauty. Take a look at the heavy claws they need for digging.
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Treecreeper behaviour we have glimpsed a few times over the years, but never photographed. These 3 images were taken over a few seconds as the bird moved left to right moving down and up again - literally creeping over the tree before disappearing round the back and magically vanishing.
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A new species for us - a flock of Linnets in a hedge top just off our patch.
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Much more detail of the second image (from the right) of yesterday montage
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A few frames further on as the male chasing the female mallard gains height.
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A pair of mallard ducks were on the edge of the duck shaped pond. The female to his left flew first, and then he took off after her. At 7 fps here is his nearly vertical launch spread out into 3 sections.
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Flying past the pond's island foliage a few frames later, accurately positioned. Its rather bizarre that the bird looks almost identically posed in each instance. It is just chance - each bird includes some background twigs that lined up perfectly. If you look carefully each is different.
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Spring in sight, and Robins start seeking partners for the breeding season. Here a little Robin togetherness in this chance single frame.
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Another pair of 'loving' robins at the other ground level site.
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For a few months at the start of most years we are graced by a few mallard ducks. Normally they stick to feeding at the ponds and waddling along the paths, but when the ponds are frozen they seek out other sources of food.
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A beautiful male mallard steps elegantly through the site.
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We rarely see Tree Sparrows at either ground level site. Snow changes a lot of behaviour.
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We have had fleeting eyeball sightings of this lovely jay, and now the classic portrait on the tree-stump top from the automatic camera.
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Robin preening in the heavily frosted vegetation. Birds are STILL finding seeds in these old teasel heads.
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For once a small flock of Lapwing came close enough for some good images of a single bird in flight. Spacing is arbitrary.
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A 'Closer' view of a Lapwing in flight.
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We used to see a few Hares cavorting in the fields, but we
haven't seen ANY for at least 15 years. To our delight this
beauty ran in an approximately straight line from the Bridleway
to the North right past us over the brow of the land to the
south, with the camera following most of it's journey.
This first image is an accurate montage at about 7fps.
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From a few frames later, a couple of 'action portraits'. The missing fur on the Hare's flank suggests it has been fighting.
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This pair of egrets landed in a distant snowy field and 'vanished' against the snow. A walk down the road got us nearer for this white on white study
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The birds finally departed together, but never close for a satisfactory 'two bird in flight' image. So here is a montage of one of them approximately correctly spaced, the rightmost pair are correct, the left 2 estimated
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A better look from the end of the sequence
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We don't know what the heron might hope to find in this frozen pond and we didn't see anything caught. But we did catch it's launch when disturbed by a tall lorry on the track about 25 metres behind.
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Robins rule the kitchen window perch ... if there isn't something bigger that wants access!
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Another squabble over access to the peanut feeder in the freezing weather. Not that there isn't plenty for them all.
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This montage of images separated by 15 minutes (but at exactly the same scale) makes an unusual contrast. Grey Squirrels are bigger than you think, and Bluetits are smaller.
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The only shot we got of the fox at this camera that night, and it looks to be on a serious hunt.
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No idea what was going on here. Enjoy the whiskers on both, and the nonchalant expression on the upper mouse!
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The iced-over ponds have been cleared of corn grain, so these Mallard ducks are having a look for some more grub at this nearby feeding site and stayed for about 10 minutes.
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The iced-over ponds have been cleared of corn grain, so these Mallard ducks are having a look for some more grub at this nearby feeding site. This edge-of-frame image was the last over about 10 minutes.
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Bluetits particularly enjoy eating Silver birch catkins. The final (rightmost) image includes a tiny morsel in the tip of the beak.
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