They say horse racing is the sport of kings.
I reckon rabbit spotting and chasing is the sport of greyhounds.
It really makes Penny's day when she spots one or two when we walk through the churchyard.
They usually disappear as soon as they spot us but this time I was able to stay reasonably hidden while I took a couple of shots. Once they spotted Penny they hurtled back to the safety of waste land next to the churchyard.
It can be a tad fraught when we walk through the churchyard. There are often rabbits around and if madam spots one she takes some holding. Being a retired racing greyhound her previous training kicks in and she hears and sees nothing else. Every ounce of concentration is on the prospective chase.
On our walk yesterday afternoon I spotted a couple of rabbits but fortunately they were hidden from Penny by the grave stones and bushes:
It looked as though one had sensed our presence and I hoped that meant they would beat a rapid exit before you know who spotted anything:
Unfortunately one decided to move in the open and eagle eyes (not known as a sighthound for nothing) spotted it so after a quick shot it was a case of hanging on to Penny and the camera when big ears made a dash for cover.
That is one of the reasons Penny always wears a harness. It does her less harm if she suddenly decides to accelerate and the lead brings her to an abrupt stop. She is slowly getting better and normally responds to commands once she finds it impossible to chase.
The little Hedgehog appeared as usual for its equivalent of breakfast and made several visits to the Hedgehog House. From my observations I had assumed this hog was not fully grown and this was borne out when a larger Hedgehog appeared. The first time this year there has been more than one at a time. The larger, and presumably older, hog was the more nervous of the two and didn't stay long to eat much of the dried mealworms, crushed, unsalted peanuts and Sunflower hearts on offer. Today there is a resident again in the house. I assume it is the smaller one which I will call Hoggy as I can't think of another neutral name starting with H.
Here are some short snippets from last night's video captures. Uploading to YouTube was very slow this morning with long periods of inactivity (not unusual these days) so I uploaded the video file to Flickr. Flickr cut the video short (maximum 90 sec) so I ended up having to go back to YouTube in the end!
Not much in the way of photography recently. It has been raining on and off with the odd hail shower. Some birds are visiting the feeders in pairs - Goldfinches, Blue Tits, Coal Tits and Great Tits are all arriving in pairs. They are not using my nest boxes but I think they are roosting not too far away. The corvids continue to arrive as soon as it starts to get light and soon finish off any food left by the Hedgehogs.
Not a lot seen out and about. (These taken with the Lumix)
A couple of Wood Pigeons in a tree
A distant rabbit in the horse paddock.
A lovely brilliant yellow field of oilseed rape (HDRd)
Tomorrow will probably be a blogless day as various electrical work is being done here at home, including the installation of air conditioning in the lounge. My lounge faces South and has more glass than wall which is great for free heating from the Sun at colder times of the year but gets more than a bit overpowering in the Summer. I've had a portable Amcor air conditioning unit for a few years which does a great job but the fans are so noisy it drives me up the wall so it was time for a quieter system.
I spent the morning tidying up in the fruit cage. I might feed the birds and encourage them to visit the garden but they are not really welcome to help themselves to my blueberries and blackcurrants so I have those in a large walk-in caged area. While I was pottering about the garden I saw a Bumble Bee visiting a crocus flower. I think that was only the second one I have seen so far this year.
This afternoon as the Sun was shining for a change and the temperature had reached 11C I took the camera with me on our afternoon visit to the cricket field. In one distant field there were several horses; most standing so the cold wind was behind them.
In another field were a few sheep. Only one of the lambs was in view.
All the time Bobby and I were on the cricket field we saw little wild life. Just a couple of Rooks and the odd Rabbit.
I've always been fascinated by the contrast between these trees. The poplar being more pliable is able to bend with strong winds. The older tree has lost one of its twin trunks and the other has been shaped by the prevailing winds.
As we left the one thing which reminded me that Summer is a long way off yet was the sight of a magnificent Weeping Willow seen here as it is today and compared with last Summer.
Returning to the front garden I saw that there were more catkins and that the Mahonia was giving a good display of yellow flowers as were some crocuses.
Finally, just as we about to go back in the warmth, I spotted another Bumble Bee, well maybe the same one I saw this morning, visiting a heather plant.
So at least there are signs of Spring awakening even if I do have to wait a few months for Summer.
