Archived & Upcoming Images of the Day
A Jackdaw eyeing over a corn-on-the-cob before probably pecking some bit the human's teeth missed.
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This is probably the same half corn-cob on a stick a day later after a Grey Squirrel took it away for 'dismantling'. Note the bitten through stick - the corns we buy have 1 stick right through so some really strong little jaws have been at work!
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We have been watching Dunnocks for years, but this is the first year we have observed the female Cloaca being offered to the male along with the females excited wings trembling.
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We have been watching Dunnocks for years, but this is the first year we have observed the female Cloaca being offered to the male along with the females excited wings trembling. In this case a different pair over 50 metres away from the first pair, this time caught by a camera trap.
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One of the resident male Blackbirds singing his little heart out.
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A male Blackbird scratching his throat with his left foot. The wide-open beak may be just one of those things animals (Humans included) do when performing awkward manoeuvrers. The dull looking eye is the Nictitating membrane protecting the eye from accidents.
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The setting sun gives the male Pheasant a wonderful glowing crown.
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A male Chaffinch in glorious breeding colour, crest (such as it is) raised.
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Grey Squirrels may be flea infested 'Tree Rats', but it is not for the lack of trying to keep well groomed. Here it is licking along it's tail.
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This grey Squirrel seems to be concerned about something off to our left. We will undoubtedly forever be in ignorance of what!
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This Green-veined White Butterfly is an occasional visitor here, and is very early considering the land elevation.
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The Large White Butterfly - Scourge of cabbage growers - also likes
Oilseed Rape with which we are 75% surrounded.
It is the stuff that colours fields bright yellow - pretty from a distance,
not so good to be surrounded by for weeks of rather acrid stink.
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This Robin (unfortunately in the shadow of the house) spent a couple of minutes biting lumps off this (still wiggling) worm and swallowing the pieces
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As we stepped out of the front door (facing west) we were immediately struck by this huge precision edged cloud along the horizon. On arriving at the North boundary we found this vast long band stretching in the north almost from west to east. Not wanting to risk missing the effect by walking back to get a more wide-angle lens, this is a montage of 4 adjacent frames taken at a 50mm lens setting and joined up later. We estimate it is only 30 degrees short of 180 degrees.
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A little section in more details - the white cloud at this stage seemed to exactly align with the dark. As the cloud moved overhead the straight line illusion was lost.
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So what was it?
As the weather forecast suggested it gradually moved over the sky to give us an
endless grey day. A screen dump of a weather map show a cold front on the way,
but rarely so graphically represented by a hard line in the real world.
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A peacock Butterfly contrasting itself with the brilliant yellow of a cultivated Daffodil. The butterfly is in good condition considering that it will have spent the winter somewhere safe while waiting for the Spring!
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A lovely patch of (we hope) genuine English Bluebells pop up each
year in an ancient ditch.
Bluebells are notoriously bright in
Ultra-Violet (UV) light and always look too pink in photographs.
We have done our best here to correct the colours.
For a view in the UV spectrum start at
http://www.moorhen.me.uk/uv/highlights_01.htm
for the highlights which include plants and insects. None of the
insects are harmed - see the technical notes attached to the section.
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Bluetit taking some soft lining back to the nest.
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"Time for my morning Yoga"
This Grey squirrel cracks us up each time we see it.
He is grooming himself where the large peanut feeder spends some of the day,
so he is presumably planning to get 'first dibs' when it arrives.
The various limbs are identified in the images title.
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This Grey squirrel looks really smug at finding the peanut feeder full. We think he has just moved the eye into the full sunlight and screwed it up in defence just like a human does.
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The Grey Squirrel looks keen on attacking the male Pheasant, but the bird looks more than ready to deliver some beak, claws and spurs in return!
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We found this Peacock butterfly (left) feeding on some Blackthorn flowers. This is the only frame we got because movement for a 'better angle' scared it away. Turning round the mind said 'oh there it is' before realising that the newly found item was a leaf we think is remarkably like the butterfly. Although this butterfly's marking are primarily intended to startle predators, it is worth remembering that what humans may think of as poor camouflage may actually be quite effective.
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Not the most spectacular images of a ring around the sun, but we don't very often see this. Not a 'lens effect' except the white dot lower left of the sun, and some of the darker splodges probably dirt of the sensor - a problem you get at very small apertures like photographing the sun and in the kit used to photograph insects in flight.
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A strange cloud looms over some normal cumulus, possibly a lenticular ice cloud partly hidden by the lower formation giving this 'halo' effect.
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This Wren appeared on the branch for an unusually long time before moving on - perhaps a whole 5 seconds. The bird's feet staying still until take-off so we have 'elongated' the twig to provide this little montage.
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Now that's what we call collecting nesting material! The Blackbird's aerodynamics must be terrible when flying with that lot at the front!
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Montage of the launch phase to the nest perhaps another 1 metre further up on the right.
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The Robin taking in a bit of structural reinforcement.
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This Robin has a slightly distorted sense of scale with this length of twig we think!
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The Robin makes a little coquettish goodbye!
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We have a 'traditional' site where Snakes-head Fritillaries have survived (if not thrived) for the last 25 years. Each year we have to wait and see whether we get the conventional mottled purple (left) or the more subtle mottled cream and white varieties. This year we got both. Look carefully at the white flower to see the mottling. The single or double flower seems to be a random variation.
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One of this years better developed clumps of Primroses at the base of a tree in the Orchard.
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A single 2 in 1 Tawny Owl event this week. Starting with the
camera at the kitchen Window first as the bird landed, stayed a
minute or two (unexpectedly triggering this single-shot camera
electronics again for the 'poised' image). The Owl then flew
directly to the Owl post in the meadow where it stayed for
another couple of minutes. This whole sequence lasts about 5
minutes.
The different Owl sizes reflect the pixel size on the
two cameras - the first with the bird only a few metres away
through moderate telephoto lens, the second from 30m away through
a gigantic 500mm lens and long distance flash.
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This male Mallard Duck made a tidy takeoff as Marie walked up the path to the Duck-shaped pond. All 5 frames are spread horizontally at about 7fps. In the first 3 you can see how he dips down to give himself a launching spring. This is less than 1 second of action.
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A closer view of the next to last frame of the montage.
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Your cameraman let the bird get our of frame but picked him up again about 1.5 seconds later and caught this rising sequence accurately portrayed at the same 7 fps. His beak just overlaps most of the next images rump with surprising consistency.
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The 'Robtit' - a chance juxtaposition of Robin and Great Tit perhaps singing an Abba song together? Note how even the legs alternate in the lineup.
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Grey Squirrel showing his not so sweet nature to a Rook that may just have been trying to land.
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A moment of dynamic paw and tail flailing from this Grey Squirrel.
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As we emerged into view of this male Kestrel it spent a few seconds sizing us up before deciding it was time to depart. Note that in the next to last image the bird is looking back to see what we are up to!
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First seen a few days ago, on this warmish day there we a few over-wintered Comma Butterflies re-fuelling from the May blossom. They will be keen to find a mate to lays the eggs for this Autumns generation
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The first Swallow of the year for us, 10 days earlier than last year.
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Very few views of the Little Egret this year. We enjoyed this one flying over the Rookery. Note that the Rooks do not consider the Egret a threat - if this was a Buzzard they would rise en-masse to mob it!
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Consecutive images at the end of the garden from a covert (trail-cam) camera show a fox obviously suspicious of something happening behind, and deciding to 'canter' off. We suspect the disturbance was one of us at the house 50m away
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We put out frozen cherries from our stock for both human and animal consumption. This one seems to have pleased this Grey Squirrel.
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This male Great Spotted Woodpecker spent a minute or so pecking at the bark of the Ash tree on the main pond island. The movement is a bit too quick to catch in sequential frames, so this montage is only an accurate illustration taken from 3 pecks. In the right hand frame note how the impact has disturbed the previously sleek feathers on the back of the head.
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A few minutes later the Great Spotted Woodpecker departed. Judging from the direction of exit he may have been heading for the peanut feeder about 20 metres to the left where we often see him.
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Several female Mallard Ducks visit the main pond at this time of year for a high-speed feed and preen before returning to their nests. The bird will be moving oil from her 'Preen Gland' near the base of the tail and spreading it as waterproofing over all of her feathers. Just look at the neck flexibility you have to have if you don't have hands.
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The newly arrived conventionally coloured male pheasant against the setting sun.
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A Bluetit glowing blue on every available patch!
No colour faking - honest!
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In the morning dew, a pair of Robin's check out the site around dawn.
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