Archived & Upcoming Images of the Day
This looks like a pair of HOUSE Sparrows - a rare sighting here. We so hope that this pair can create a new local population.
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A better view of the male House Sparrow
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This Heron was flying low over the arable farm land so we could build these accurate montages. Bird spacings vary according to the wind direction.
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This Heron was flying low over the arable farm land so we could build these accurate montages. Bird spacings vary according to the wind direction.
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This Heron was flying low over the arable farm land so we could build these accurate montages. Bird spacings vary according to the wind direction.
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What we think is the first Comma butterfly we have seen this year. It is perched on a broken stem of a teasel and you can see the characteristic white mark on the bottom of the wing that gives the species it's name.
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Here the same Comma Butterfly has moved on to a daffodil flower for a sunbathe. At low air temperatures the sun is needed to bring them up to 'operating temperature'. Unfortunately they can't feed on Daffodils, but there are plenty of Primroses, Snowdrops and May flowers for them to feed on.
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Buzzards appear on some sunny days with 'puffy' clouds - one of the conditions that creates Thermals. This is an impression of a Buzzard turning in a thermal nearly above us.
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A few hours after the Buzzards found a nearby thermal, this glider spirals up in a thermal on the sun-facing slope to our south.
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This intricate looking flower is actually just a Dead Nettle growing up through a crack in a concrete track. The flowers are about 1cm wide.
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An opportunity to show you 2 different members of the Thrush family at identical scales. Thrushes include Redwing and Blackbird shown here, as well as Fieldfare, Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush - all of this sort of size.
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En-Guard!
Rooks come with built in 'Sabres!
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This doesn't look like a very friendly encounter between these two Rooks.
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The female Mallard duck (right) still with 'duckweed' on her back looks for food at the log, guarded by 'her' male. It looks like they were too early for the 'teatime' delivery of food.
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An hour after her previous visit, this female Mallard duck gets first choice from the just replenished buffet.
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The 'Night' Shift - a Tawny Owl makes an elegant arrival.
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The 'Day' shift - on a really gloomy morning a Grey squirrel arrives to wait for the peanut feeder to appear.
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As the sun gains some warmth we have started seeing Buzzards using the local thermals to gain height. Usually single birds as here, but so far up to 3 in a single shaft of rising air.
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As the sun gains some warmth we have started seeing Buzzards using the local thermals to gain height. Here Buzzards circling 'lazily' to gain height before setting off on a hunt.
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A 13 minute visit by a Tawny Owl mostly showed us the birds back, but the camera did catch this moment of the bird gazing up at we know-not-what.
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Just this one image of a Barn Owl making an attractive landing.
Notice the clear Alula feathers raised half way along the top of
each wing that provide the same effect as 'flaps' on aeroplanes.
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A Grey Squirrel shows his bad temper against this rook which must be at least half a metre from him.
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We think this Rook adjusting position with it's wings has startled the male Pheasant into 'levitating' ...
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... but within the same minute all is calm again. Corvids and Pheasants usually coexist in peace!
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This is an adult Green Woodpecker (we can't tell which sex) in all it's
colourful glory.
We have not 'wound up' the colours.
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4 different small bird species (and a white feather) make a pleasing
composition without any changes from the original frame.
This sort of layout is usually the result of photoshopping in bird seed adverts!
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What we think is the same Badger makes several visits a week, mostly at the Infra-Red Trail cams, but sometimes at the high-resolution photo sites.
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We are now seeing a Moorhen on the main pond for brief periods on many days. It doesn't seem particularly bothered by our moving by the windows but we never get to see it when we visit the pond. When feeding the basic techniques is to lift lumps of pond weed and turn them over to expose edible morsels hiding beneath.
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Here are some unexpectedly regular visitors for us in mid March - Redwings spread through the week. In previous years a single sighting in all of March is the norm.
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Here are some unexpectedly regular visitors for us in mid March - Redwings spread through the week. In previous years a single sighting in all of March is the norm.
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Here are some unexpectedly regular visitors for us in mid March -
Redwings spread through the week. In previous years a single
sighting in all of March is the norm.
This seems to be a different individual to other sighting in the week.
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A Rook picking up recently scattered corn.
Just look at the colours in the feathers - we find it almost miraculous!
We have not artificially intensified them.
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A pair of Rooks looking at we know-not-what to the left. Does the Jackdaw (rightmost bird) wonder if it can nip in for a feed?
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A Jackdaw making final approach adjustments to land on the perch.
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Under a sun warmed corrugated Iron sheet at the edge of the meadow we used to surprise Grass Snakes, but more recently we are lucky to even spot a Rodent. Here a probably terrified Shrew (probably the Common) ran in a circle before disappearing beneath the leaf litter. Notice the small Snail shell next to the Shrew.
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Very heavy rain (38mm in 12 hours) doesn't stop the male Great Spotted Woodpecker (right) visiting the peanut feeder. The Woodpecker looks quite pristine, but the Tree Sparrow on the left looks really bedraggled.
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A 'soggy' squirrel out in the rain to make the most of access to the easy to access peanut feeder.
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Its been a few weeks since we last saw any Tawny Owl - this visit lasted 10 minutes.
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Barn owl without leg ring graces us with a few minutes visit
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In the pouring rain this Barn Owl visit that stayed for over an hour, the
rain soaking the bird and the East facing window through which this camera takes it's pictures.
This is as good as the images got - a whole unprocessed frame - we can't even guess
which of our regular Barn Owls it is.
Which 'authority' says Owls seek shelter in the rain?
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This Barn Owl arrives before the camera has 'turned itself on' for the night. We saw it on the CCTV and stampeded to the camera to grab just this one useable image before the Rooks took exception and chased it away. Rooks mobbing Owls in the twilight is standard behaviour we have seen many times in the past elsewhere around the farmland.
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A very neat male Great Spotted Woodpecker propping himself at 45 degrees with his tail.
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This male Chaffinch now has his full blue beak coating, and wonderful crisp feather pattern at his throat.
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The weather forecast for heavy snow fortunately skimmed north of us
leaving a light overnight snow shower that melted before sundown.
These small birds don't have the reserves to stop for a bit of snow.
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We can't help feeling that this Blackbird is surveying the change of scenery that any snow temporarily produces.
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The female Kestrel was out early hunting, gradually moving east
away from us in her usual hunting pattern whether she can see us
or not.
The gold colour is from early morning sunshine.
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Our returned Moorhen appeared for part of another day. Here he/she is stepping down the Iris fronds to pick up some water weed to eat.
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This is the whole camera frame that happens to just neatly frame
the whole badger.
It really is 'pot-luck' how to adjust the camera in these fixed automatic setups
to get detailed images without missing too much out of frame
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The next night (the later side of midnight) a less-well framed image
but a lovely view of the face of this badger.
We know Badgers are reputed to be 'grumpy' but maybe only when being messed about.
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This Great Tit has probably just finished the last of the corn grains on the top of the stone, and is about to make a little 'wing assisted' jump down to start on the offerings at ground level.
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Robins are paired up all over the site.
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Robins are paired up all over the site.
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Robins are paired up all over the site.
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Ghost Bird!
Some unidentified small bird so close to the camera and flash
that we get this hopelessly overexposed image with this strange photo-bomb.
Genuine un-fudged single frame - not an 'April Fool' joke!
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Out in the rain, this male Great Spotted Woodpecker poses at the feeder. The tips of the tail feathers get quite a beating being used as a prop on vertical surfaces. We don't know where this one got the brown tip on one tail feather.
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