Archived & Upcoming Images of the Day
We have now seen 2 male and 2 female Bullfinches foraging for
blackberry fruit in this Blackberry 'bush'. But rarely close
enough to make a real 'pair' image.
Here we offer a male tucking into the human equivalent of currants.
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We have now seen 2 male and 2 female Bullfinches foraging for
blackberry fruit in this Blackberry 'bush'. But rarely close
enough to make a real 'pair' image.
Here we offer a female tucking into the human equivalent of currants.
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Fieldmice (Wood Mice) frequently take unusual interest in Leopard Slugs. We understand Slug slime is quite sweet and nutritious, and the Mice may lick it from the slugs!
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The local Tabby Cat takes a night-time stroll, just a ring of yellow for the
eyes with pupils fully dilated.
We are far from being 'Cat People',
but admit this is a fine creature even if it does kill rodents we would rather
the Owls could catch.
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We think this is a pair of courting Squirrels, but the claws look ready to inflict a scratch if needed.
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Another visit by the Grey Squirrel clambering up the tree-stump.
Ooh yummy - strawberry!
The streak down the wood is the slime
of a Leopard slug that reached the top the 'hard way'
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This is a Redwing, a similar sized Thrush to the Fieldfare. Redwing often form a small proportion of the birds in a Fieldfare flock.
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A Fieldfare perched unusually tolerant of the photographer while perched partly obscured in a Black Poplar tree.
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A Magpie perched in one of the willow trees by the pond. This is accurately montaged, the 3 of the bird in flight being about 140mS apart.
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There is quite a lot of Wren activity in the hedge top outside the living room, including birds having little high-speed confrontations we just can't 'capture'. Here is one of them perched and then taking off.
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A male Bullfinch spent several minutes picking desiccated blackberry fruit, spending several seconds working the fruit in the beak/crop, before bending down for another. The sun was shining as you can see from the bright background, but frustratingly the bird was in the shadow of the house.
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We saw two females and a single male Bullfinch in the same bush, all making the most of the dried out berries. The females were at opposite sides of the bramble bush, so this can show just one of them with the male.
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Here is one of the female Bullfinches picking another 'dried fruit'.
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A several minute visit by a pair of Muntjac Deer to the front of the pond. The male, nearest the camera' has the tiny antlers.
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The male pausing with a quizzical look at the window - maybe it is sensing some movement on the other side of the glass.
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This frame (not quite in focus) caught something we have not seen before - the opening of the scent gland just below the eye, possible paired with the one on the far side, about to mark a hedge twig. We had always assumed that stick ends were 'pushed in', but this makes sense.
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Muntjac Deer are herbivores, here making the most of the untidy grass edges we leave for them. You can see the normal view of the closed scent gland close to the right of the eye.
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A male Chaffinch in his final aerobrake to (presumably) land on the tree-stump. Unusually crisp image for a small bird in flight.
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A very Red Sky at night not followed by the predicted 'Shepherd's delight', but a really grey morning as the Met Office forecast.
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This Barn owl made a 5 minute visit to the meadow Post, relaxed enough for an impossible looking preen (the bird is standing facing right reaching down with the beak to the bottom of the back).
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Half an hour later we saw the owl return and stay for 44 minutes.
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Half an hour later we saw the owl return and stay for 44 minutes.
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The male Muntjac Deer made this lovely portrait - antlers freshly shed of their velvet coverings. This visit lasted about 5 minutes just before sunset.
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About half an hour later the Muntjac Deer returned, disturbing the Grey Squirrel already at the site. These three images, taken consecutively at about 1 minute intervals, tells the story - "I'm bigger than you are".
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The unusual juxtaposition in the middle image above at a better resolution even shows the Muntjac Deers wet nose.
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Next evening the male Muntjac makes another visit. This animal obviously has little fear of the camera noise and flash.
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A Red Kite glides by quietly turning towards us, giving us a good look at the top of the bird you don't often see. Very close to accurately spaced.
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Elegant female Pheasant shows a streak of Blue-green iridescent colour down her back.
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At the other end of the size scale, this is a male Chaffinch. His beak is now the pink-grey of the non-breeding season.
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We are starting to really enjoy these two Grey Squirrels as they repeatedly spend 'quality time' together. These 6 taken over just 20 minutes.
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5 days later another 'date' around sunset for what we have to assume is a pair of courting Grey Squirrels.
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While we were standing slightly obscured this female Kestrel arrived about 50 metres away and commenced to hunt for a minute or two, either unaware of our presence, or not bothered. She landed in the top of this Lodgepole Pine but her perch wasn't very stable.
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The female Kestrel flutters awkwardly onto another twig which bends under her weight from 60 degrees upward to just below horizontal.
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The twig the female Kestrel moved to gradually sagged down as you see here. Her vertical tail is caught up on the twigs behind.
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At the end of the day this Robin is out in the gloom and rain launching this attack on something above. Knowing Robins sweet disposition (NOT) it was probably another Robin daring to fly over!
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This Robin took a photo landing at this spot in similar 'diving down' positions more than 10 times in a week. We think it must have a favourite perch quite close and makes a similar approach each time.
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Most years we get to see just 1 image of a Polecat passing through. It looks like this is this years offering at the meadow site where we have not seen it before. The back is wonderfully arched with the tail streaming out behind.
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We have never actually SEEN the polecat and most of you won't either. But most of us have seen a Grey Squirrel, so here is a size comparison. The mounded back makes the Polecat look shorter than it is.
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One of the 4 male Pheasants with dark plumage and dark feathers over the head.
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This seems to be the dominant male Pheasant, with silver-grey plumage over body and head.
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The groups of Pheasants has become more rag-tag. These two were walking up a path from the house. Note the subtly different plumages.
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A couple of Fieldmice (Wood Mice) sharing the remaining food at the bottom of the hedge.
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Grey Squirrels are frequently far from companionable, but these two are apparently enjoying their time together. These taken over about half an hour.
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With windfall apples over patches of the site, they make an ideal food for Grey Squirrels to 'tank up' ready for winter.
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With windfall apples over patches of the site, they make an ideal food for Grey Squirrels to 'tank up' ready for winter.
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Our rural view of the storm clouds to the east shortly before sunset.
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Behind the main pond the Viburnum Birkwoodii bushes have come into flower. The flower heads are always untidy as you see here, but the splashes of colour from the house are lovely and the perfume greets you 10 metres downwind.
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A Jay makes its fairly reliable annual re-appearance, here in a particularly nice pose on the tree-stump where we most often see it.
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Here our Barn Owl lands with the Alulae both prominent half way along the top of each wing as the bird slows to almost nothing to touch-down.
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This Barn Owl visit (the second of two a few minutes apart) had a very active hunting
approach you see here below the landing. It was full moon, so the Owl was undoubtedly
looking as well as listening for prey.
For the single image above we 'Photoshopped' out the sprouting corn stem that
detracted from the symmetry. We need a ladder or steps to 'weed' the top of the
pole so it tends to get left.
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As the leaf canopy thins the light penetrating the inside of the woodland gradually increases, here illuminating a Grey Squirrel against a still black background.
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Surely there can't be many more corn cobs for the Grey squirrels to find from the harvested and re-sown field.
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Before sunrise we have a heavy dew as this Robin stands on his breakfast.
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A few fleeting glimpses of Goldfinches is augmented by this self portrait as one comes in to land.
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Male and female Yellowhammers in the farm hedge are back for the winter.
Discontinuities in hedge cut height result from both thick wood
and unevenness in the ground that the tractor is trundling over. Here we think the
cutter hit the heavy branch on the left side - it cuts this side left to
right.
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Through the rows of Lombardy Poplars down the Farm Road we see this sunrise with the sun still hidden by the rise of the land.
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3 minutes later from the top of the rise we see this angry sunrise.
'Red Sky in Morning - Shepherds warning'
they say and is often right, but the day turned out not too bad.
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A White Wagtail on our Roof, the first seen in 10 months Here it is having a stretch on the roof ridge.
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The White Wagtail was dodging backward and forwards over the ridge you see above, with
us following it like sheep!
Pied Wagtails have Black backs
White Wagtails have Grey Backs (as here)
Grey Wagtails have Yellow Chests
Is it any wonder people get confused!
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This Carrion Crow perched on one of the other 3 high voltage cables pecked awkwardly at something held against the wire by one foot. When it took off we finally saw what was in the beak - some sort of small limb bone. Whether Bird, Mammal or Rodent we have no idea. Well it is a Carrion Crow!
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At the same scale and in similar positions you can here compare (left to right) the Female Chaffinch, Great Tit and Blue Tit.
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The influx of migrant Blackbirds with Black rather than yellow beaks has arrived. Here we can see that the inside of the beak is (to us the more normal) yellow.
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The male immigrant Blackbird has a really black coating on the beak, but the female of the same type sports a brown coating.
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The multitude of Grey Squirrels all seem to enjoy scraping out cooked chestnut husks. Meanwhile they are busy burying whole Horse Chestnuts for consumption in the winter.
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The wildlife is still finding whole corn cobs in the harvested, harrowed and re-sown field adjacent to our access track. We estimate that at least 200 mostly eaten cobs are scattered over our patch. Here another third or so of a cob is taken away to be 'dismantled'.
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Rabbit with carrot - just like endless illustrations in children's books.
Rabbits don't store food against future need, but then the grass they mostly
eat doesn't go away.
A leaf happens to have been falling at the moment of exposure just above the
Rabbits left front leg.
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The Autumn continues to produce a succession of different Fungi in the grass area outside our east boundary. We have had a go at identifying this interesting shape - see label.
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