Archived & Upcoming Images of the Day
Magpies (and the occasional Jackdaw) perform 'undertaker' duties for the mice in the house that won't go into a live trap. This Magpie found the mouse less than an hour after it was put out.
.jpg)
The male Kestrel was hunting from this branch of an autumn coloured Oak. He soon spotted the photographer 50 metres away and quietly left.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
The Robins and chaffinches still skirmish for the sake of it, but a little half-heartedly after the pressures of breeding have passed!
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
We tend to see the odd rats in the Autumn but so far they have only been about for a few days a year. This Rat had it's foot on a slug, but nevertheless did NOT eat it. Wonderful whiskers on this despised creature.
.jpg)
This Rat seems a much lighter brown than the one at site 1 seen the next day.
.jpg)
We never get to eat ANY of our sweet chestnuts. This is where they go - into the Grey Squirrels maw or it's buried cache.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Half an hour after a Tawny owl landed here with it's back to the camera, we assume that this is a return visit with feathers spread and a nicely lit profile!
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
What's going on down there?
A freshly moulted male Great Spotted Woodpecker peers downwards
flapping his wings for balance.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Whee!
A Fieldmouse (Wood Mouse) caught at the top of an enormous leap.
(r+mb id@432).jpg)
A Zoom-in to appreciate the sharp details of the leaping mouse.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
"What - no whole apples? Oh well - this slice will have to do."
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
This Sycamore has managed to encompass the complete green leaves (bottom) through to dried out and ready to fall leaves (top) in a single multi-stemmed tree. It was the only tree this far advanced. The tree to the right is an oak of the same age - oaks do very well here - the land used to be called 'Oak Hill Furlong'.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
A rather nice Blue tit coming in to land. For once no angst from either party.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Not such a peaceful encounter for this Robin and Great Tit.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Make up your own caption!
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
On a rainy night this fieldmouse (wood mouse) goes for a stroll over the slugs and snails that have also climbed up the metre high tree stump.
.jpg)
Fieldmice (Wood Mice) tend to treat slugs and snails as furniture - here we think this one may be 'perched' on the Leopard Slug
 leopard slug(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Grey Squirrels having a romp in the afternoon sun. They can just about wheedle nuts out of the peanut feeder on the left without being able to damage it.
.jpg)
2 Fieldmice (Wood Mice) mingle whiskers in what seems to be one of their courtship behaviours. And very sweet it is too.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
During the moult the robins have been very retiring, but we walk round the perimeter one will appear in a 'hopeful' approach for a food offering, the individual bird changing as we move across their territorial boundaries.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
The work on harvested fields attracts hundreds of gulls. This is a single Black Headed Gull in eclipse (winter plumage with just the black smudge behind the eye) montaged much too close for reality for you to enjoy the different wing positions.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
The foxes are picking up all the small crop of windfall apples long before they become soft enough for the Comma Butterflies to drink from. So we are only seeing them in hedges this atypical year.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
This female Southern Hawker Dragonfly individual has frequented a sunny and sheltered section of the meadow for several October days. We know her from her torn wing and tatty wing tips, but she can fly well.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
An unexpected splash of colour as the Jay pays a short visit to the kitchen window perch. We don't recall seeing a Jay at the kitchen window before.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
"An apple a day keeps the doctor away"
These are 2 minutes apart.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Foxes don't seem to eat slugs or snails! This fox is more interested in something on the ground.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Its a long time since a domestic cat visited one of our photo sites. Cats are not really welcome here, but you have to admire the wonderful white whiskers against the dark fur, and the fully dilated eyes in the 3 a.m. darkness.
.jpg)
Not MANY insects this atypical year, but those we have are staying about longer than usual. Here a Small White Butterfly enjoying nectar from the last few Water Mint flowers.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
The male Southern Hawker Dragonflies continue to patrol the pond in search of females. Here one is taking a rest in the sunshine on an otherwise cold day, hanging from the seed heads of one of the types of Mallow.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
What seemed to the eye to be a momentary interaction between these two buzzards turns out to have been a rather more serious attack. These 3 montages show the action at about 5 fps (frames per second) of little more than 2 seconds of action. Read the montages left to right in the order presented.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
The middle of the attack and the lower birds avoidance.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Here is the lower bird fleeing.
Frames 9 & 10 were poor & best omitted.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Would YOU want to be at the focus of those eyes?
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
AH! there is the Little Egret, a speck in the distance, back from
months of apparent absence. Ooh - look - its coming this way!
The strong wind means what looks like ordinary flight become a vertical climb
accurately montaged using cloud edges cropped from this image.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
The uniform grey sky on this montage of the egret means we can make this 'impression' undoubtedly too closely spaced.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Its right overhead!
The uniform grey sky on this montage of the egret means
we can make this 'impression' undoubtedly too closely spaced.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
This is a Tawny Owl landing on the tree stump. We don't have CCTV at this site so have no idea how long the bird stayed, nor whether he ate the slug and snails (the next image is 9 hours later meaning nothing)
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
This little Fieldmouse (Wood Mouse) stands on a sliver of carrot while nibbling a corn grain
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
A demure fieldmouse (wood mouse) clambers up the side of the stone.
.jpg)
The Autumn fruits are fast disappearing. Here is one of the guilty parties - a Grey Squirrel tucking in to Hawthorn Berries (Haws).
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
There are rather too many Grey Squirrels - here is one nibbling something held in the paws.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
After months with no sightings, the Barn owl for 2 successive days perched for a minute or two on the 'meadow post' just after dark. On the IR CCTV we see him dive down onto something to the left, and then fly off to the right on both occasions. The first day is lit by the reflected light of Milton Keynes, and the second by the much brighter light of the nearly full moon. No further sighting for at least 4 more days - that is a hunting birds behaviour - the prey must not be able to predict when you will appear.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
A Song Thrush no doubt hoping to find some snails to take off and smash.
Meanwhile a Great Tit takes off for reasons we can only guess.
Genuine single frame - no fiddles
(r+mb id@576).jpg)