Archived & Upcoming Images of the Day
Buzzard near our patch get routinely harassed by Rooks from the local Rookeries. This Buzzard (the lower bird) has unusually light plumage.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
A Buzzard flies by behind one of the Poplars lining the Farm Road
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Buzzard in flight (part of a larger montage).
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
We are not seeing many Hares so this one lolloping past us was an unexpected pleasure to share with you. The montages are 'slightly stretched' to avoid overlaps.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
We are not seeing many Hares so this one lolloping past us was an unexpected pleasure to share with you. The montages are 'slightly stretched' to avoid overlaps.
 25-30 of 42 (impression montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
We are not seeing many Hares so this one lolloping past us was an unexpected pleasure to share with you.
 31 of 42 (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Penny plain, tuppence coloured.
This quote refers to the difference between the two plumages ...
"In the 19th Century, a fave kids' toy was a model theatre. The characters, props and scenery
were sold as separately as printed sheets which you cut out and mounted on bits of wood.
The sheets cost a penny if they were just printed in black outline, so that the user had to
colour them in, or tuppence (two pence) if ready coloured for posh kids".
.jpg)
A Rook arrives with a substantial twig to add to the pairs creation. We had always assumed that Rooks would collect already fallen wood (of which there seems to be thousands of pieces over the site) but observation reveals that they much prefer live wood broken off other trees, or in one case spotted, the same tree as the nest - demolish 'Home Tree'. Presumably the live wood is easier to weave in while already dead wood is brittle.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
The nest infrastructure complete, its time to line the nest. They are pulling up clumps of moss (of which there must be 'tons' on our site) to take to the nest. Here the pair of birds arrived simultaneously with beakful's of moss, and took it in turns to pack it into the nest cup.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
One of our regular night-time prowlers - a Badger checks out the site, giving us a good look at his/her powerful left paw
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
One of our regular night-time prowlers - a Fox out for a prowl in the hours before midnight.
.jpg)
A female Pheasant crouches next to the proud male. Unfortunately we didn't get a photo of the next stage :-(
.jpg)
Wattles extending above and below the head, and 'ear' tufts
extended.
It must be good to be a male pheasant in the Spring once you have fought to
collect a 'few wives'.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
A male Chaffinch in remarkably dark and intense plumage to show off to the 'girls'. Note that the beak is now completely covered and shiny with the blue coating.
.jpg)
The local buzzard on our south side makes a landing on the wooden railings some 300m from us that surround the underground waste tanks at the farm.
3+-6+08+12 of 13 (approx montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg)
A few minutes later the Buzzard flew right by us ...
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
... and then, against the strong wind (right to left in this image) looped round to make a slow and intricate landing in a distant oak tree at a nest we have noticed but thought was disused. We will be watching this nest keenly.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
On the grass border outside our patch this blackbird was hunting in the soft mud under the grass, moving about in the characteristic 'kangaroo like' bounding motion they use. This was photographed at about 7 fps.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
A few frames on, the bird is in mid-leap with an unusually good view of the claws
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Finally she made for a hole in the hedge back through into our patch, and 'vanished'.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
A different and much darker plumaged male Pheasant has suddenly arrived.
Here he is on the island in the main pond.
It could have flown there, but probably just walked over the Iris roots covering
the surface to the rear of the island.
 on main pond island(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Our regular male Pheasant, feathers plumped out possibly from, or about to make, the characteristic leap and call that we see and hear over the site in the Spring
.jpg)
Sightings of Wren here are normally - woosh - that was the Wren. But this one sat preening on a twig long enough to grab a camera and fire off a few frames.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
The Collared Doves are undoubtedly breeding somewhere, but we have not found the nest(s) yet this year.
.jpg)
Cherry blossom everywhere. Spring has definitely arrived!
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Willow Catkins everywhere. Spring has definitely arrived!
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
This large Rook Nest is in one of our Silver Birch Trees (along with another in another tree more obscured) and the Rook is making a lot of noise as part of his defence strategy.
.jpg)
"Would this lump of bark improve the decor of the nest?"
.jpg)
The pastures around us for the last 25 years (and probably much longer) are being ploughed up for use as arable farmland. Here is the classic 'Gulls following the plough'. We count about 200 gulls in this mob, counted in another photo where they have taken off and are more separated.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
The mass ploughing of the previous pastures inevitably changes the habits of the creatures that occupy the land. Buzzards and other large birds make the most of the freshly disturbed soil. Here the Buzzard is perched in a young hedge-line tree we have never seen him in before.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
A fungus in the semi-shade of the woodland edge about 13cm in diameter. 'Somebody' seems to have had a bite - and decided one bite was enough!
 at edge of woodland with single bite from cap(r+mb id@768).jpg)
The Fungus is near this slab sometimes used by Song Thrushes as an anvil - the area is scattered with smashed snail shells. When we lifted the slab this white Mycelium (that's the underground bit of a fungus - usually much bigger than the bit you get to see) was revealed and it probably belongs to the 'fruiting body' on the right.
 with mycelium showing under raised slab (orig)(r+mb id@768).jpg)
5 days later walking past we noticed that the fungus had broken off and was upside down, though apparently not then consumed.
.jpg)
The Buzzard cares little about our presence when at this hedge line. The bird arrived with some prey in it's left claw, tore off some of the meat and swallowed it.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Possibly spotting something else tasty on the ground the bird made a near vertical lift off before dropping to the ground at a gap in the hedge just to the right. The remains of the bird's previous meal are still in the left claws.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
A Proud and stately male Pheasant.
.jpg)
This female pheasant is in the mud and sticking her beak into it? Making eggs must make you peckish.
.jpg)
Mrs (one of three) and Mr Pheasant enjoying tea together.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
A 'Discussion Group' of Rooks. One of the traditional terms 'Parliament' - also used for other birds, just doesn't work for just 3 birds!
.jpg)
A solitary Cherry blossom flower in the hedge at our NE corner. This Cherry hedge is entirely self propagated from a Cherry tree about 5 metres away. The other 200m of the outer hedge is similarly self propagated, but of Blackthorn.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
4 days after the first individual flower the Cherry blossom has got going properly.
 1+2 of 2 (accurate montage for focus)(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
The end of a rainbow nicely aligning with a branch of Silver Birch.
.jpg)
In the sunshine against gathering storm clouds with white bark of this silver birch shines. The bark of all Silver Birches start off brown, and turn silver a few years on. So 'new' silver birches do not have silver trunks!
.jpg)
This Tawny Owl makes a 'flying visit' to the kitchen window perch.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
In the distance we watched this Rook harassing the Buzzard well beyond what seems to us to be it's territorial needs. Here the Buzzard suddenly 'turns the tables' and pursues the rook down to quite near the ground out of sight for us.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
'Our' less regular Tawny owl with Blue-grey patches on the facial disc first visited the perch outside the Kitchen Window a couple of hours after sunset.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
30 minutes after landing at the kitchen window perch, the same Owl made an eyes shut landing on the more distant meadow post. Both were very short visits.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
The male Pheasant, with back to the strong wind, has his feathers ruffled.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
In the gathering gloom the male Pheasant sees what there might be to eat before
finding a night Roost.
We didn't used to realise that our pheasants mostly spend
the night several metres up in trees in our patch out of reach of the foxes,
badgers, cats, stray dogs, all of whom would enjoy a mouthful :-(
.jpg)
We detect a trace of blue on the beak of this male Chaffinch as he starts to come into breeding condition.
.jpg)
A storm bringing down 2 of the Rook nests has led to a flurry of re-building. Photographing Rooks carrying twigs has turned out to be quite tricky - by the time they are close enough they are muddled into the trees branches. This arriving bird with quite fine twigs hovered for a moment as the bird already on the nest moved out of the way.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
A spread of white announced the arrival of this barn owl for a short visit.
 2 minute visit 1 of 2 (crop)(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
One of a pair of short visits by a Tawny Owl ended with this crouched stare into the distance.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Another short stay by this Barn Owl.
We once heard a Barn Owls head plumage described as the 'Spangled Assassin's
hood' - you can see the effect particularly well at the lower right.
 3 minute visit 1-4 of 4 (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Most of the really vivid colours in nature derive from the effects of iridescence
an interaction between fine structure and the wavelength of light and vary
widely according to the lighting, subject and viewer angles.
This chaotic image shows an incredibly bright iridescent Magpie tail.
We haven't altered the brightness or colour at all.
.jpg)
Another chaotic magpie image showing incredibly bright blue iridescent feather
tips on this Magpie.
We haven't altered the brightness or colour at all.
.jpg)
Rook nest building is underway, and it seems that for the first time the trees around us are to be part of an 'extension Rookery'. At time of writing there seem to be 3 Rook nests in the Black Poplar trees (about 90 years old) nearest the house along the track, and 2 in adjacent Silver Birch trees (about 25 years old) in our patch. Carrion Crows have for several years used the top of a Leylandii for nesting (but impossible to photograph nowadays) but this is the first time we have seen Rooks nesting here.
.jpg)
Here is a new nest being built in a 25 year old Silver Birch tree.
Of the 5 nests started storm Doris destroyed 3 of the less complete ones a
few days later. Reconstruction started once the wind has abated.
.jpg)
This Rabbit running through the site is the first time we have recorded
the front paws behind the back that can be seen quite regularly in Hares.
But The real puzzle for this 1st April is - does this rabbit have 3 ears?
The right 'ear' is a fold on the skin and fur at the back of the neck, but
every time we see this image we can't help but see a 'third ear'
.jpg)
A strange 'rainbow' like effect close to the sun just hidden by the roof ridge of the house. Not a camera effect - we could both see these colours at this strength with the naked eye
(r+mb id@576).jpg)