Archived & Upcoming Images of the Day
What looks like an ill-judged landing doesn't stop the Magpie grabbing
this corn grain in the tip of the beak.
Perhaps corn really will 'run away' in the draught from their wings.
Touchdown!
Morning sunlight streaks across the woodland partly illuminating this magnificent Magpie.
This Pheasant male, one of at least 3 currently visiting our site, knows that the morning sometimes brings left-over food at this hedge bottom.
In the overcast mid-morning this female Chaffinch aerobrakes to land at the hedge bottom.
A Robin visits the hedge bottom. The strange black 'anti-halo' looks on first glance like a fallen leaf, but closer inspection shows a Dunnock lurking in the background.
While the southern inner path was flooded, Robins made several visits that brought their reflection with them. We couldn't resist this montage.
A few hours after dark the camera catches this stoat catching a short-tailed Field vole.
Don't misread this as an action pic - the Stoat without the vole
was taken 24 minutes earlier.
A better look at the capture of the vole with Rodent's neck in the mouth of the Stoat.
In the small hours we get this glimpse of a Fox exiting the site with what is most probably a Rabbit in their mouth.
The evening of the same day sees an amazingly similar event.
This time it is much less obvious what the prey item is.
Just before midnight this Tawny Owl is out and about.
We know that the view on the left predates the one on the right (even through they
have the same timestamp) because more images follow the bird on the Meadow Post
to the right.
The moderate snowfall has here iced over - this Tawny Owl doesn't seem bothered by the slippery surface.
Two visits by (probably the same) Tawny Owl 5 minutes apart: the first very brief (we show just the landing) and the second lasting at least 5 minutes.
Yummy fresh willow buds just there for the taking.
Done with collecting food in the treetops, this Grey Squirrel walks nonchalantly head-first down this tree-trunk, gripping the wood with those swivelling rear feet.
Then the first snow of this season arrived as the temperature dropped to about -3C
One of the many Wood Pigeons hunkering down on the top of the meadow post.
Not a place a human would choose, but the Pigeon has lots of more sheltered places
they could perch and this is the one they picked.
This is a 2 minute visit by the beautiful Barn Owl.
Well into the second half of the night the Tawny Owl makes an attractive landing and is obviously very much on-the-hunt to leave a minute or two later.
A rather endearing Dunnock looks back at the camera.
A couple of Great Tits take selfies at the Meadow site.
Great Tits bred quite well here this year, but Blue Tits are in very meagre numbers.
A female Chaffinch at the hedge bottom, complete with shadow of her head and beak.
The freshly sown fields (Wheat - judging by the 1 metre cube sacks stacked up) doesn't leave much cover for Hares. Welcome to the local refuge ...
... but keep an eye open for the hunting Fox.
This image of a male Reeves' Muntjac Deer came as a bit of a shock - the pair of
light vertical lenticular patches on the face was something we didn't remember ever
having seen before.
A scan through the last 3 years of Muntjac images in our archive (about 600) didn't show it either,
but with the advantage of hindsight a few images show minor discontinuities at the same place.
It seems that they are called the 'Front Facial Glands' or 'Pre-orbital Glands'.
Like those below the eyes, they are usually closed.
We occasionally see Muntjac pushing the front of their faces on tree trunks and they are probably scent
marking them. The tongue you see partially extended here is used to clean the scent cavities, and it is
suggested that they 'learn' their own scent this way.
A couple of possibly useful videos and texts
https://www.tiktok.com/@mixedwithology/video/7210409071155989803?lang=en
https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/mammals/muntjac-deer
Many hours later at the hedge bottom, we pick up a closer view of the Front Facial Glands.
The scent glands on the front of the face explain what this male Reeves' Muntjac Deer is doing - scent marking the grass and weeds.
This is the biggest group of Starlings we have seen this year, all landing in quite a spectacular moment (unfortunately not captured on camera) descending on this 'broken' ash tree about 100m south of our south hedge.
Our patch seems to be a favourite roost for Wood Pigeons, but, the moment we become visible, they depart.
"I'm watching you!"
The lengthening night increase the number of Foxes caught on night time cameras. This one was crossing the ditch after entering at the south hedge gap.
Here a Fox visits the Round Pond just after midnight.
This Fox has just entered the site at the south hedge gap, and stopped in
the muddy ditch before setting off purposefully to the west, but it only a
few metres to the fence at the edge of the access track.
The facial and ear characteristics suggest that this may be a youngster.
This male Great Spotted Woodpecker illustrates the method used by Great Spotted woodpeckers
to steal peanuts from squirrel resistant caged feeders.
Extract a nut from the caged bird feeder using the long beak & tongue.
Carry it in the beak tip to the gouge in a post.
Hammer it down into Woodpecker preferred size pieces.
A female visitor follows exactly the same pattern, and we remember instances
from decades ago where the Great Spotted Woodpecker used a hollow in
the post for a weather vane.
Grey Squirrels seem never to cease the transport of food to their 'safe place' - except perhaps when they eat them on the spot.
Here a Grey Squirrel makes multiple visits to the top of the bird table, but was always frustrated in attempts to purloin a peanut.
This Barn Owl made a short stop of the Meadow Post.
A minute or two later we get this lovely head-on landing through the kitchen window.
Another brief visit by a few Long-tailed Tits.
Here is a montage of two frames of one leaving the tip of a Horse Chestnut tree.
The spread wings against the sky seem to us an absolute delight ...
... that looks even better as a negative
These 4 female Pheasants seem to have just entered through the east hedge gap in the fencing.
2 days later we see 3 female Pheasants (one or more other may be out of frame) along with his lordship the male as the most distant bird.
A female Pheasant visiting the woodland site. Others may be out of the camera's view
We were surprised to find this single frame showing 3 male Pheasants sharing this patch of leaf strewn grass near the south hedge gap without a hint of animosity - yet.
A Sparrowhawk lands on the Kitchen perch back to camera
The same event is caught by the temporary Trail cam from slightly earlier and continues for another 9 seconds.
The temporary trail cam aimed at the kitchen Bird table / perch here picks up an Owl visit that manages to evade the IR sense beam.
Next day this Tawny Owl lands on the Kitchen perch.
Same moment on the Kitchen camera, caught slightly later by the trail cam watching the same perch.
A Tawny Owl visit to the Meadow post.
The Grey Squirrels are again practising the 'nothing allowed near me' strategy.
The dark area at the bottom is probably a fallen leaf.
MY hedge bottom.
MY MY Meadow site.
Aren't I twee?
What do you mean 'bully'.
Fieldmice (Wood Mice) in the right place are really adorable.
3 Robin visits to the hedge bottom in a 30 minute period.
The 'two' on the right are obviously the same individual - not sure about the one on the left.
A small apple (maybe half an apple) purloined by this Grey Squirrel.
This Barn Owl arrives on the Meadow just vacated by a Tawny Owl.
Did the Barn Owl shoo away the Tawny Owl?
Gorgeous bird!
4 nights later our more regular Owl visitor lands outside the kitchen window.
A perky Robin greets the dawn.
Robins seem to be more numerous than of late.
Robins seem to be more numerous than of late.
Barn Owls are currently irregular visitors, so this pre-dawn appearance is a pleasant surprise.
The Barn owl stayed for about 3 minutes before departing.
Although flying in the general direction of the Meadow post, they didn't land on it,
The plastic rain gauge not only provided a water reading, but also a picture
of this Birch Shieldbug - our first record of this species here.
Facing upwards in case the strange shape of Shieldbugs confuses you.
Unless they are cut as part of a hedge, Elm trees here succumb to Dutch Elm disease.
Nevertheless (and before we knew what would happen) we moved an elm tree blocking
the south ditch to make a feature among the sea of plastic tree shelters early in the
evolution of the site.
The elm has produced a sequence of suckers which in their turn grow up and die after
producing their own suckers. We think that we are now on the 4th generation.
Meanwhile the rotting trunks produce an interesting selection of Lichen and Fungi.
The local female Sparrowhawk glares at the camera/flash.
She didn't stay.
Walking along the 'disused track' south of our patch we pass 3 poles, including this
disused telephone pole we always check for a perched bird. On this pass there was nothing.
100m further along our walk movement catches the eye at one of the poles, and
backtracking a little to find a viewpoint through the nearer trees, we see
that this post top has since been occupied by a Kestrel dismembering some prey item.
This Grey Squirrel looks about to nibble a catkin.
Birds regularly feed on these little bundles of nourishment, but we don't remember
seeing a Squirrel with one before. They probably normally eat them 'off the tree'.
This Tree Rat Grey Squirrel brings
a small Teasel head up to the Bird-table top to devour it.
It was Halloween on the night of these two montaged images which by happen stance
arrived as sequential pics. We couldn't resist having this bit of gallows humour.
This is an accurate montage, but two hours separate the visits.
This Fox walks quietly up to and then along the edge of Duck Pond before noticing the dull glow of the trail-cams IR illuminator.
A bit spread for effect, a Fox has entered through the south hedge gap and is setting off for the post-midnight part of their hunt.
This must rank as our best portrait of the Jay.
Jays are mainly known for collecting acorns, but this year we are severely
'acorn deprived' and don't know what the Jay is finding.
A Song Thrush visits the hedge bottom as the daylight starts to fade.
Chaffinches are now in winter colours.
On the left a male, and on the right 20 minutes later a female.
At this time of year we will NOT actually see them together without them squabbling.
A few Tawny Owl visits this week.
Grab it before it escapes - whatever 'it' might be.
A slightly quirky Dunnock
This Grey Squirrel now seems to be collecting Teasel heads.
Sloe berries (Blackthorn fruit) seems to be a more regular choice.
Can you scratch your head with your foot?
Our confusingly gendered Kestrel lands on the meadow post.
A few hours later another landing by the current regular Kestrel.
The wind direction must have changed to land facing the camera.
This Kestrel flew about 15 metres from a disused telephone pole to this post carrying our mains supply cables.
A closer look at the second moment from the left.