Archived & Upcoming Images of the Day
As the thermometer continues to fall (its -3C at 10 a.m. on Friday 9th) this Squirrel has apparently decided that insulation for the drey is a rising priority. Here the first leaf has been selected.
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Grey Squirrels find it worthwhile to shred fir cones to eat the seeds. This one chose the dip in a 'firebrick' used to weigh down the lid of this camera box as the dining table.
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This Grey Squirrel has found a peanut on the Kitchen bird table (you can see another not yet collected) and turns around the rear claws to control the impending nose-dive with the prize.
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Two visits by what looks like the same tawny Owl to the Tree-stump in the Woodland
on 2 successive evenings.
Rodents are attracted to the ground here because of the corn knocked from the
tree-stump top each day.
Here about an hour after sunset ...
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... and next day just half-an-hour after sunset.
Note that the camera flash overwhelms both dim backgrounds!
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This immaculate male Blackbird has selected some sort of seed now in his beak. His shadow shows the partly open beak.
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The soil here is wet enough for probing the ground to leave your lovely yellow beak clogged with mud.
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This Green Woodpecker flies high above us and lands on this Silver Birch mostly obscured by trees closer to us. A creep along the path across the meadow finally finds a clear view without alarming the bird again, allowing this pic.
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If you prefer more detail of the lovely bird, here it is. The red patch below the eye identifies this is an adult male.
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The male Reeves' Muntjac Deer (long antlers) spends a few minutes foraging on the side of Round Mound.
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A couple of Magpies both want to occupy the Meadow Post, or at
least not let any other Magpie occupy it.
NOT a montage.
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A Robin stopping for a moment on the tree-stump deep in the now far-from-dark woods. A Christmas day Robin - sans snow!
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From 4 frames of Fieldmice (Wood Mice) over one night we build this little fun montage.
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Near the east access, this Badger gazes up at the camera.
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Round Pond has self-filled sufficiently to be back as a 'watering hole'.
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Near the south hedge this badger stops to gaze upwards.
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The plants world has gone crazy in the atypically benign November weather.
Here we have patches of Speedwell actually in flower.
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The plants world has gone crazy in the atypically benign November weather.
Here near a shed near the house one sweep of the camera catches four out of season events:-
A White Dead Nettle in flower (The stinging variety are not flowering but are growing all too well).
Patches of Groundsel flowers.
A Blackberry stem growing fresh leaves.
Flowering Sow Thistle.
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The plants world has gone crazy in the atypically benign November weather.
This is Herb Robert in flower absolutely drenched in dew (NOT a water spray!)
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The plants world has gone crazy in the atypically benign November weather.
One of several places with both fresh Blackberry fruits and even new flowers.
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Our only sighting of this Roe Deer on this day - just after noon - at the quietly rising Round Pond. She is 'trotting along' in the foreground around the edge of the pond left rear.
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2 days after the sighting at Round Pond we catch this moment at the Woodland site
of a Roe Deer picking up scraps.
We see this from the rear with head down between the front legs.
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Sparrowhawks continue to make regular passes around our house. Here only 15 minutes apart are 2 consecutive frames on the Kitchen Window camera that see them passing and sometimes trigger the IR sense beam.
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A Badger delicately scratching the fur with one of those awesome claws.
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Hours later in the same night, this Badger inspects the food still left at the hedge bottom. The White stripes are lightly spattered with mud.
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This Tawny Owl pounces on another rodent.
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3 pics here all with the same timestamp just after dark 6:10 p.m.
The mouse had already scarpered when the Tawny Owl pounced presumably
onto a less vigilant member of the family.
We positioned the Post and Meadow site years ago in the hope of catching pairings
like this, but this year the numbers of such events has soared.
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Left: 21:52 The Tawny Owl Leaves the Kitchen Perch in a flurry of
feathers.
Centre: 21:52 (same time) arrives at the Meadow Post staying for a few minutes.
Right: 22:13 (21 minutes later) pounces on a Rodent at the Hedge bottom.
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Just look at those steerable ears!
The fox is standing stock still with ears turned to pick up sounds from behind.
Perhaps noticing the dark-red IR lamps, or detecting a sound old humans can't
hear, turns their head towards the camera and swivels the ears in the same direction.
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The leaky Round Pond has filled from ground water and is now half a metre deep at some points. We suspect that this Fox is going down for a drink.
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A local male Green Woodpecker takes a selfie in the sunshine.
His beak is coated with mud - at this time of year an 'occupational hazard'
for a bird that feeds by probing the ground and Ant nests.
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"I'm sure there's a way through along here"
Our walk round the circling Farm Road surprises this male Reeves' Muntjac Deer
outside our east hedge. The Deer promptly dives into the hedge but a few seconds
later he reappears, and then every few metres down the hedge dives in and
returns. The pig-net now buried in the hedge decades ago after an invasion of about
100 sheep is sufficient to stop the deer. Eventually he finds one of the patches
where we have cut away a bit of the netting at the bottom and in he goes - this
time NOT to be seen again.
This individual has his antlers in a half grown state we have not seen recently
- so another male to add to the one we regularly see.
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Surprise - a rather small and light coloured Tawny Owl stops off at the Tree-stump
in the Woodland. Our initial impression is one of this year's brood.
There is a small woodpile housing a Fieldmouse (Wood Mouse) nest about 10 metres in the direction
the bird is staring!
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The small hours of Friday saw this Tawny Owl making a 2 minute & later 3 minute visits to the meadow post 2 and a half hours apart.
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Another female Sparrowhawk portrait at the kitchen window.
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Something is 'going on' with Badgers at the tree-trunk near the south hedge gap.
Here we see a Badger apparently already climbed part way up the tree near the
south hedge gap is now walking off along the ditch edge.
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In three images in the middle of three successive nights a Badger continues to take special interest in the bulge at the tree-trunk's base.
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On the next night we see the badger clambering as high as they can up the tree trunk.
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Next night another clambers up the tree-trunk near the south hedge gap. This is the highest we have seen one get so far
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Near the South hedge gap this Squirrel has found a toothsome item to nibble their way through.
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90m minutes later the female Grey Squirrel (with bad right eye) is chomping away at something substantial.
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All that 5-a-day healthy fruit going begging as this Grey Squirrel prefers a piece of cooked potato peel.
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Here is the female Grey squirrel with wonky right eye, apparently getting on absolutely fine. A piece of apple seems to be the choice of the moment.
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The previous week we saw no owls on the Meadow Post or Kitchen perch, but see a Tawny Owl probably attacking (apparently unsuccessfully) a rodent at both the Hedge Bottom site ...
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... and at a similar time 2 days later, at the woodland site.
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These regular on-camera attacks by a Tawny Owl are a new phenomena - normally we catch this only once or twice a year. At this site the direction of approach indicated that the bird perches in the conifer overhanging the camera, so we can't ever expect to get a face-on pic here :-(
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Touchdown!
The first claw of this majestic Magpie has just touched the edge of the post.
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10 minutes later this camera catches this Magpie in a more stable pose.
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A little sequence of portraits of the more regular small bird visitors ...
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Note that apart from generally paler markings in winter, this male Chaffinch now has an all pink (natural colour) beak rather than the blue coating of the breeding colours.
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Spotted in the 'Salad Bed' which is resting for the Winter (our excuse for the weeds),
this male Reeves' Muntjac Deer was intermittently eating the weeds and
barking.
You can eat as many of the weeds as you like!
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This pair of Reeves' Muntjac Deer follow the 'tradition' - the male (bottom pic) following the female (top pic), here caught in uncannily similar positions about 1 minute apart.
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The male Sparrowhawk stops off on the kitchen perch.
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3 days later this female Sparrowhawk - the female is a bigger bird than the male - makes a startling landing facing in the opposite direction to male.
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Breeding season done, the Wood Pigeons spend a lot less time camped out on post and tree tops doing guard duty. This one has tucked themselves out of the wind by a young tree-trunk and just watched us watching them a few metres away.
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On the other hand, Rooks are already courting in the Black Poplar trees for their early start to breeding in the nearby trees. This pair are in the tree nearest the house. Further down the track 3 pairs are occupying the three last seasons nests that have so far survived the Autumn gales.
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A Rook stops off on the Meadow Post for a well lit portrait highlighting the gorgeous feathers.
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A Fox slinks by the Round Pond.
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A Fox (possibly always the same one) enters the site at this south hedge gap on most nights.
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In the dark of the night what looks like the same Fox twice walks down into the partially filled Round Pond, taking what may be a well trodden path down to the water.
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This Grey Squirrel seems to have stained the inside of their mouth with what must be strawberry juice.
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Not much food left at 7 a.m. - but at least these Squirrels aren't fighting for the scraps.
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An elegant landing for this Wood Pigeon in a light drizzle.
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A minute later the Wood Pigeon has turned to face the prevailing wind - better than having your feather ruffled up.
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Most creatures enter at the south straight down into the ditch. For some reason this Fox slinks behind the tree to cross the ditch a few metres to the right.
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A few hours after dark this badger trundles into the site.
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Head down, this male Reeves' Muntjac Deer inelegantly forages the edge of the ditch. You can clearly see the two little tusks pointing upwards,
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An hour after midnight the female Reeves' Muntjac Deer pauses on her way
through the south hedge to check that her suitor is following.
We often see moment of 'respect' both ways between male and female Muntjac
Deer, quite unlike the domineering behaviour of larger deer that 'Rut'.
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On 'Round' mound this female Reeves' Muntjac Deer quietly forages.
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A pair of Reeves' Muntjac Deer forage quietly together near the East hedge gap.
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